Sola to Romansu: Important side-stories
by The Storyteller and his Books
Summary: Ever wondered where some of the Characters in the Story came from, or how they got where they are now? Now you have a chance to see some of them real close-up, their pasts, their battles, their believes and the choices they made. These chapters will give you insight in what happened inbetween the chapters of the mainstory, I hope for your understanding and that you enjoy it.
1. The House of Memories I, Arriving

**空とロマンス**

 **Sola to Romansu (Sky and Romance)**

 **Important side-stories**

 **Book 1:** **The House of Memories / Part 1**

 _ **A/N: hello and welcome to the first of the Sola to Romansu side stories.**_

 _ **I hope you all enjoy it, just let me tell you that the reading of this story can prove crucial, to get certain information for the further course of the story.**_

 _ **As you might know plays the first story during the few hours at wich Red and Co. arrive at the Darven Island to get their Memories back, while the scarlet wolf wraps up things in Airedale and on the other close Islands, before coming to get them for their ride towards the Devil´s Throat.**_

 _ **The story afterwards plays during these few hours at another place in the Republic, so make sure to read it, as it will become even more crucial to the future development of the second book.**_

 _ **with this out of the way, i hope you have another nice ride, here we go:**_

 _ **Darven Islands, after the Airedale Liberator Battle, Red´s Pov:**_

I was nervous..., more nervous than ever before of returning back home, to _**the Savarin Orphanage**_.

Yes you heard right, I said home..., after all, this is where Chocolat and I, and many other children, have been raised..., where we had grown and started our own journey from.

However, I always believed that the reason, for me to return, would be a different one than today.

For today I came to seek answers, answers on questions which I could only find here.

"What do you think..., what will she tell you?" Elh asked as she sat in my lap, reading in the book, which she got from Cassandra, while I spent my time reading as well.

Chocolat was right, it was a rare sight indeed, of seeing us like this..., mainly me reading something attentively.

I freely admit it, Books had never been my strength..., but I hoped to find at least one clue to my questions beforehand, before I would Question the woman I had seen and loved as a mother for so long.

"No idea..., of course I hope the truth, but I doubt she would lie to us if we ask her..., but then again..., where should I even start asking...?

I know that I have no right of blaming her for anything, after all it was my own decision to seal my memories and live from zero on." I stated as I looked at her from up above her, as she looked upwards.

"I´m not even sure if anything I ask could probably change anything at the current situation..., maybe this here is but all a selfish act without any deeper meaning to the whole Life I have lived so far.

Still I am certain that it will be quite important for the future.

One´s Origins are the most important to know, I had lived in the dark for so long..., two years ago, I finally got to know some things in my life I didn´t know prior to that day.

That I was originally created as a simple experiment..., as a hybrid who possessed special powers and could transform myself into a human and who has maybe other abilities as well, I and Merveille as well, believe that I have barely scratched on the surface of what I am capable of doing.

Maybe I was born for an experiment, but I belive, even before I got aware of what might happen, that I was created for some kind of purpose, and I doubt that I have already absolved that purpose.

Back then as I was told to be a Hybrid, I thought that I had found my destiny, that I was to defeat my older siblings-by-creation Blank and Nero and stop my own biological father Baion.

That's what I always believed, that this was all there is, all the dark secrets of my previous life, before the memory loss.

But now, in just a few days, this believe has been shaken again, suddenly new things came to light, apparent truths and uncertain believes..., I honestly have no idea what to exactly believe anymore, I mean suddenly this thing awakens in me, how did Carmine called it...?"

"You mean the Antiqua Sanctus Remulus?" Elh asked with quite the worried look on her face.

"Yeah, exactly this thing, this old Saint which shall have been attached to Maranell and to a part also to me.

And all the memories which will come with it, about a world which had ended long before our time, memories of a great dissaster happened in the past, and that these memories shall act as a warning.

I have no idea what to think about it, it feels as though I was born to one day become some kind of messiah for the people..., but how could I even dream of being one when I cannot even trust my own judgment anymore..., whether it even is my true and own judgement at all." I stated and I held my head as I felt how a headache of enormous size awaited me.

"I slowly feel as if my head would burst open any minute, unable to sort the incoming piles of information and unless I am able to create folders to properly sort them, the pile will just grow until it breaks up the ceiling of my mind.

But I think more than just this, I am afraid of something entirely different.

By now I can feel that _**this body of mine..., it houses three beings**_.

There is one time _**the Hybrid**_ , _**Human Red**_ , a red whose personality and look is completely different from my everday-self.

Then there is _**the Hunter**_ I have been ever since my Memory loss, _**Red Savarin**_.

And then _**the third Being**_ , the Mystery-man, the Soul of the moon, _**the Antiqua Sanctum, Remulus**_.

But now, when I re-acquire my lost memories..., would that mean that _**a fourth being**_ would be created, _**the Prince of 10 Moons, Red S. Wolvenra**_.

To whom does this body belong to..., which version of me has the right of property over it..., or is there perhaps _**a still unknown fifth being,**_ which houses fragments of all previous four and who actually is the original?" I explained and closed my eyes in frustration letting out a long sigh.

"You know, I might not can give you an answer on this question at all, as it is the most complex problem I have ever heard of.

But whatever happens, you can always count on me, no matter what." Elh explained to me with her hands on my cheeks, pulling me down to her, with a sudden smile I kissed her.

"I know and I am so thankful for that." I replied and she nodded with a smile.

"So who would you like, Hybrid, Hunter, Mystery-man or Prince?" I asked her and she looked at me with a frown.

"Now that´s quite unfair you know..., however, if I had to say anything, then all I can say is that I know about 3 of you and I might soon get to know the 4th, and I am sure I will also learn to love that one.

For me you are Red, no matter what, I don´t care what personality you have, as long as you stay with me and treat me nice and well." Elh explained and I snickered, even I knew that it was quite an Unfair question to ask, if I don´t know the answer myself, of who I want to be in the future, than how would she know.

"We soon are there Guys..., only about half an hour anymore!" Chocolat stated aloud.

"That are some good news, really good ones." Kodiak explained as he looked a little pale.

"What´s wrong with him?" I asked Anastasia as I looked at them.

"He has partial-motion-sickness, on big airships it works out because they do not shake so much, but in here..., well you see him." Anastasia explained with a comforting smile, stroking the back of her father, who sat above a bucket..., just in case.

"I´m a little excited if I may say so, I haven´t seen Grenadine in quite a long time, I think it are at least 9 years ago since I saw her last, back then as we showed you how to fight and how to operate the Asmodeus.

In anyways I have to see that the Aircraft still looks good, I had my doubts regarding certain persons." Rose replied and I crawled my hair in embarrassment.

It was obvious that she spoke about me.

"Oh I made sure he did not soiled it too much." Chocolat exclaimed from the cockpit.

"C´mon now, I am not that much of a pig, I clean too." I stated enraged.

"Yeah but only if we tell you, otherwise it seems, as though you don´t mind all the dirt and garbage that piles up in the plastic bags." Elh explained.

"Oh C´mon!" I exclaimed still embarrassed.

"I swear to god, it´s the same with Carmine, why are you boys always so unkempt and messy in your making." Rose sighed.

"Because we are wild and free I guess." I stated, earning a glance of disgust from every female in the room, Anastasia included.

"Order is half the life." A new voice stated, coming from Greyhound, who barely spoke anything the whole time but instead cleaned and treated his sword, to make sure it was sharp again, from the previous fighting.

"That's how a true man sounds." The women stated swooning while the blue-furred, tall and muscular Caninu didn´t seemed to notice the sudden affection.

"Now I am offended, I am a real man too, just so you know..., and if you want, I can prove it." I stated, only to get a glance of extreme disapproval and fury from Rose and Chocolat.

" _Keep that for the bedroom tonight_." Elh whispered and I had to burry my head back in my book, to hide the arousement in my face.

" _As expected, Little Red is eager to get it on_." Elh snickered as she looked up to me, feeling the push from my erection.

" _If we had more time, I would show you instantly_ , _what man I truly am, put you probably wouldn´t be able to walk for a while afterwards_." I whispered back and she blushed cutely.

"In my opinion a real man is someone who can defend the ones he loves and cares for, someone who fights for his principles, in this case Red is quite the man.

It doesn´t matter if he has a few flaws here and there, love and loyalty that's what the term of a true man shall stand for." White explained and although I was thankful for his words, I did not overheard him speaking of me as having too many flaws.

"Well we can argue back and forth, but in the end it ends in the question if you yourself feel as a true man, if you feel yourself able to perform a man´s duties, of protecting, loving and pleasing his family in any possible way.

A true man is not just a male being of brute force, but also a tender lover to his wife, girlfriend or whatever, as well as a family father and a warrior..., someone who goes to all lengths to make sure his family is safe." Kodiak explained and I nodded.

"Says the man who wasn´t able to find his daughter for 13 long years." Anastasia stated unforgiving.

"It´s not as if you had found her either, if anything she has found her way back to us by herself." Kodiak fired at his daughter, who was taken aback but had no way to answer on this as it was the truth.

"In the end it does not matter who is what, we all are who we are and we cannot change that, so lets just make the best out of it." Chocolat explained and we nodded.

"I´m fine with that explanation." We all stated.

"Anyways we are soon there, I can see Diamundo´s workplace." Chocolat stated and I nodded.

Director Cherrypie´s Orphanage was not so far away from the Garage, it stood on one of the bigger sized islands, the house was 2-levels high and a bit bigger than ordinary houses but not as big as a villa or the like.

If anything, it was peaceful.

A small field of flowers floated on a connected island infront of it.

The Orphanage sported a little garden in the back and a wooden balcony to the front as well.

As we arrived, we placed the Asmodeus on Auto-pilot and standby mode and made our way towards the house.

I was unsure if they could see it, but the place was brimming with magic, Wolven magic in that case, I wonder if it had always been that way, Chocolat and I, we haven´t been here in a long time as well..., then again my wolven senses had awakened only a few days ago, so I guess I was just not as perceptive to them as today.

"Stop, who goes there, if you came to take the children, you will have first to go through me!" Suddenly a loud voice exclaimed, as we saw how a young woman came rushing at us, armed with a pitchfork and a small mace attached at her hip.

Though small it was massive and I was sure it was heavy enough to crush a skull if swung hard enough.

Of course I instantly put a hand to my sword, it was purely instinct of self-defense, yet I attempted to not let this situation escalate, the woman stopped shortly before the edge of the shield.

"You Bastards won´t get the Children, only over my cold dead body!" the woman shouted, somehow she struck me as familiar but I couldn´t put my finger on it.

Still right now we had better things to deal with, as to find any clue in my memories.

Sometimes I hate the fact that I don´t often pay attention to things which later on turn out to be crucial.

However, it just happens without me being able to change that.

Either way, right now it was time for some calming words to be addressed to the Woman who was ready to give her life, all in order to defend this place, with a pitchfork in hand.

"I assure you there is a mistake, we didn´t come for any kind of shady business..., we came to meet Director Grenadine Cherrypie!" I stated as I pulled Elh back and went infront of her, protecting the same.

"That´s what you guys always say and then when we let our guard down, you stab us in the back, but we won´t fall for your lies, not this time and never again!" The Young Woman shouted enraged and was about to stab the pitchfork right into my body, as I was about to draw my sword to block it.

"THEA; STOP!" We heard the loud voice of another person coming from a bit above.

Suddenly it was as though the time was freezing, the woman and I glared at each other and although her eyes stayed fixed on me, I saw how her focus was drifting to where the voice came from.

Still in a position of instant attack, she stood still waiting for the voice to keep shouting orders.

Whatever the appearance of her..., Brown long hair, slender build, long bright blue clothes..., this woman was no ordinary Felineko, she seemed to be trained in the art of fighting, her stance was that of an experienced lancer and her grip on the pitchfork was hard enough, to keep it in hand even if blocked, and still flexible enough for quick changes in movement.

"Would you stop being so rude, these are guests of mine, they surely won´t attack us, they are old inhabitants of this Orphanage, don´t you remember.

Get back inside and stop pestering them..., make tea or something but get this pitchfork away from them..., geez!" The voice of none other but Grenadine Cherrypie, old acquaintance of Maranell Wolvenra, Ex-Head-Nurse at the Wolpalaca and currently Director of the Savarin Orphanage, explained in a loud voice as the old lady arrived and shouted in exhaustion.

"I..., I see..., pardon my rudeness, if the Director says so it must be true." The woman said, as she lowered her weapon with a sigh of relief as a few sweat-drops ran down her temples, I bet she was more under pressure than we were.

"I am really sorry, Red, Chocolat, everybody..., but in the current times we cannot be any lax with our caution as you might understand.

C´mon up you Children, and your friends as well of course, I was awaiting your visit." The Director explained as she gestured us to get up.

"Well then I guess from here on out we should be safe." I stated as we walked over the bridges.

I carefully walked through the magic wall and it felt quite warm, a familiar feeling instantly streamed through my body.

" _Father, this spell has been erected by him_." I whispered as I walked through, Elh still close at my side.

"A Dominion-spell, paired with a Magic Wall to ward of anyone with evil intend, this is powerfull magic casted by a mighty Magic-caster.

As much as I can tell, hasn´t it been casted recently, but seems to be active since quite a while, it is still very strong." Elh explained to me as we all walked through without much problems.

"I´m sorry my Prince, I think my appearance might have startled the young Lady, I´m very sorry." Greyhound explained, but I shook my head.

"No, I think this was just a preventive measurement, the shield my father has erected, prevent anyone fiendish from entering this place closer than to the bridge to the flower field." I replied to him and he nodded in understanding.

"Isn´t this..., Thea?" Chocolat asked unsure.

"Huh..., you know her?" I asked her and she just looked at me in pity.

"You are the worst brother, have you really forgotten the people you even grew up with?" She asked.

"Well sorry to say so, but I haven´t been here in nearly 8 years, how shall I know what happened with anyone, or least how they look like nowadays?" I asked and she just sighed.

"Hey, um sorry but are you by any way Thea, do you remember me by any chance?" Chocolat asked, as she walked up to the woman with the Pitchfork.

"Hmm..., now that I get a better look at you..., this bright hair..., aren´t you Chocolat?" She asked uncertain as well, before realization hit her and her hand her mouth in shock.

"Indeed..., waaah, it´s so good to see you again, how have you been?" Chocolat asked, instantly throwing questions at the poor maiden.

"Oh I am okay, I've been living here almost all the time even after I became an adult, I finally found my calling and a place to stay.

I go now by the name _**Thea Bernstein**_ , I was adopted by _**Oswald Bernstein, the astronomer, a good friend of the Director**_.

We live nearby at the _ **Darven Observatory.**_

But I was always thankful to Director Cherrypie, so I made an apprenticeship in Pedagogy and Childcare, to help the Director care for the children, and then, when she goes into retirement, overtake the Orphanage and help all the children who might live in this place in the future.

If the Rumors we heard on FLNB, about the Lycanian´s return, are true, then the world has a bitter need for secured Orphanages, times are bound to get ugly.

We were told to be vary of every foreign Aircraft, so I am sorry for my rude behavior earlier." Thea explained as she apologized, bowing before us in shame, as she led us up to the house, in the windows we could see many curious faces looking at us.

"Red, Chocolat, it is so good to see you kids again..., oh Rose, my dear, it has been too long, how are you?" The Director asked with a warm smile, as she gestured us to the balcony, to sit on the large table out here.

"I´m alright Grenadine, it has indeed been a while, but me and Carmine as well as Alexia are doing just fine." Rose explained as she sat herself on the chair she was offered, same as all of us.

"I see, that's good to hear..., and you people are?" Miss Cherrypie asked.

"I am Kodiak Garontrias and this is my Daughter Anastasia G. Garontrias, we are...!" Kodiak exclaimed but was interrupted.

"Chocolat´s Family I assume, it is an honor, King Garontrias, Princess Anastasia..., Princess Choco-Vanil." Miss Cherrypie stated with a knowing nod, bowing before the two of them and also before Chocolat.

"It has lasted quite a long time..., but she foretold that one day the day would come when you would find out, she always believed so..., until her death." She said.

"So it is as I thought..., Banmori died, didn´t she?" Kodiak asked and Miss Cherrypie nodded.

"She arrived at the old orphanage with your daughter, 2 years after their arrival, as they had nothing of their own, they lived on the street, living from the money they mugged from delinquents and criminals who tried to rob them, one day we met by coincidence as she saved me from a robbery, as thanks i brought her home to at least get a warm shower, meal and bed for the cold nights.

It was then as I found out that she was a valhallian, her accent revealed her identity to me, they stayed for a while after they revealed their faces to us, but then that incident happened an she got deadly injured, out of caution, and due to her own wish, we could not get her into a Hospital and had to patch her up here in the orphanage, this had saved her from an instant death but it was not able to permanently save her from dying.

But at least she died knowing that her mistress was out of danger, for the time being." The director explained.

"We erected a grave for her in the backyard, if you wish to pray for her soul, Thea would you mind showing them the place?" Director Cherrypie ordered her apprentice, who nodded and gestured Kodiak, Anastasia as well as Chocolat and White to come along, to pay their respects.

" _Now, as these things we will be discussing are quite private, I wonder what I can do with such a strong, young, muscular man such as yourself_?" She mused, as she glanced at Greyhound, scanning him from up to down, grinning behind her palm with a blush.

"I think it would be for the best if he goes for a walk or something like this, it doesn´t really helps you to stay here and get bored about old stories of mine..., and the Director is right, it are quite private things we have to discuss..., still I think it would be good for you to stay in close vicinity, just in case." I stated as I understood the Directors meaningful glance at me.

Of course, it was nice to have someone watching over you, but I had lived most of my live independently from any higher control, so I wasn´t really in need of a guard..., but I did not dared to say that out loud to a man who saw it as his holy duty to serve me.

"If it is your wish my Prince, I will look to find something I can do around here." The young man stated, without so much of disappointment, I think he do had the delicacy to suggest this, instead of stubbornly insisting of staying at my side.

"If you would like to do something..., I´m a little embarrassed to ask, but we got some firewood to cut out in the Backyard..., but Thea can be so clumsy sometimes, that I fear she might hurt herself one day..., usually Percival, one of the more adolescent children under my care, is tasked with this, but he is momentarily sick with a fever and lies in bed upstairs... so if you would be a dear?" The director asked and Greyhound nodded without hesitation, before he walked out in the back, where Thea and the others had vanished.

Of course not without the Director ogling his backside as he went.

"Ahem..." I called for her attention and she straightened up again blushing.

"I´m sorry, but its not often you get to see such fine young men out here, all I ever see are kids and old Farts!" She snickered like a schoolgirl.

"I see, you are as well as always if you can joke like this, dear Mrs. Cherrypie." I sighed and she smiled.

"Same goes for you, you really have grown a lot since the last time I have seen you, it had been so long and I always wondered what you might do, I always feared that you might end up in trouble someway, with that loudmouth attitude you always had, but I strongly believed that Chocolat would be able to keep you in check, and as I can see she did a good job." The Director stated with a lough while I blushed.

Meanwhile a giggling Elh desperately tried not to laugh.

"Well I am still alive and kicking, so we both had done well someway.

How about you, any bad things happened lately?" I asked her but she shook her head.

"Thank Heavens no, I would not be sure what to do if all that trouble tha has went down in the last days would have knocked at our door as well, I am glad that the worst that happens here is either one of the Children getting sick, or my back hurting for days again.

I really have to thank your father for that shield spell...

Which might instantly lead to your unspoken request, he told me you might come here to get some answers..., well since I am not obligated to deny these answers to you, now that you are a capable adult and surely ready for the truth, I would love to tell you everything I personally know about.

After all I hold _**part of the key**_ to unlock your sealed memories." The Director stated with a meaning full glance to Rose, who nodded.

"It´s good to hear that from you..., and that you are doing fine out here, I always kind of worried what might happen here, after we left, but I always believe that your life just goes on, same as it went for Chocolat and me." I explained and she nodded.

"I also often though about you, as well as all the other children I had in my care.

I might have been originally a School-nurse and later your caretaker here in the Shepherd Republic, until you were old enough to live on your own, but I am foremost an Orphanage director, of course I was worried about all of you, all of who came and later on went away from me.

I do this here since 11 years and I must say that this work is really fulfilling, whenever I see the smiles on the faces of the Children, who had been robbed of so much in their life, it just fills my heart with happiness.

Back then as you and Chocolat left us, with that reassuring smile on your faces, I was glad..., glad and proud of the young man and the young woman I had raised as best as I could.

Since it had been your wish, I treated you just as equal as all the others in my care, without special preferences, it hadn´t always been easy as you had always been a little rascal.." She stated and I could see Elh looking at me with a sigh of frustration, to which I could but crawl my neck in embarrassment.

"But I wouldn´t want to miss this time we had spent together like this, for all the money in the world.

Ever since my Husband died a few years ago and my daughter was old enough to leave the house and have children on her own, I wasn´t sure I what to do with my life, I tried my best to bloom up in my job, but seeing injuries, blood and suffering people everyday was just too hard, for it also remembered me of all the lossses i had suffered before in my early life..., as I became a school-nurse I managed to calm down a little from my raging and heartbroken emotions, I had people depend on me, but it was still not really what I sought for.

But then as King Maranell asked me to become an Orphanage Director, and the moment I was surrounded by small children who looked up to me, as though they were my own, I finally found my calling, I tried my best to bring a smile on their faces every day, to comfort them when they were sad, all in all to be there for them.

And under them was a little prince who had lost all of his memories and who was unsure of this world, frightened by it.

I told myself that even if you weren't my biological son, I would do anything in my power to make sure you would grow to a righteous man.

And even as unkempt you often are am I most certain to have done a good job there, what do you think?" She asked with a smile and I nodded as I stood up walked to her before dropping to my knee before her.

"You gave me so much as I had nothing, you gave me love, care, joy and happiness, you comforted me when I was sad and heartbroken.

You gave me advice when I asked you about my feelings of losss, my frightened heart and even about love, back then as I had developed a crush on a classmate of mine, you told me exactly what to do, and even though it never worked out with her, was I grateful, grateful for the help I had gotten by you.

It hadn´t always been easy and I bet I wasn´t the easiest child to handle at times, but thanks to you I am who I am today.

A hunter, a proud member of Shepherds society, and for that and for the love you have always given me, I want to thank you from all of my heart, a thanks to the one woman I have always seen as a mother to me." I stated as I took her frail hands which shook from the emotions, as she shed a few tears of happiness.

"Geez..., when did you learned to be such a smooth-talker Red, you really make this old woman here swoon and cry in happiness, ehehe," The Director shook her head in comical disbelieve, still drying her tears as she embraced me and kissed my forehead.

 ** _Elh's Pov:_**

"Yeah, he always had such a way with Felinekos, even I often blushed from his open honesty, just as much as I was frustrated by the same when he got a little too honest." Rose replied, equally moved to tears as myself, and I nodded blushing in embarrassment as she talked about Red´s preferences in types of woman to like and love.

It was nice seeing these three interacting, although i felt a little left out if i had to be honest, still Red being so thankfull to someone was a rare sight, often he only gave a short but heartfelt thanks or he said it while crawling the back of his head in embarrassment not sure if it was enough..., but I guess that this woman really deserved it, to be revered so much by him that he even falls to his knees.

I had only been with Red for about 2 years and fairly know him well by now i would say..., but she raised him nonstop, every day, for 7 years, I cannot imagine how stressed out I would be, she surely must have nerves of steel to keep up with his shenanigans and occasional stupidity.

It makes me really wonder how Red had been when he was little, was he just the same, or worse, or was he a little calmer than today?

Either way I bet I would be completly stressed out and frustrated with him, when hearing all about the stupid things he did as a child..., still, I cannot say that I have been a role model of a polite and uncomplicated Child in my youth as well, I might live since so long and I might have forgotten a lot what went down on Ragdoll before I became cursed, but even I don´t believe that I always have been a good child, however, I would never admit that to Red, I wouldn´t get to hear the end of it, most likely.

Over all these things i heard from him, one thing was clear as day to me, which also was promptly exclaimed by the Director.

"To be honest I cannot really imagine Red with a Caninu-woman, I mean he just doesn´t strike me like that kind of man, who goes all alpha on someone else.

Caninu Woman can be sweet but also quite submissive at times, but Red seemed to have a fable for woman which were headstrong, could talk back at him if necessary and argue without instantly being hurt.

Maybe, since Chocolat is not really a Caninu hereself, she is basically just the same type of woman as he prefers, but since both have lived as siblings for so long i doubt he would have make a move on her." The Director stated and Red and myself flinched a little.

I saw how he looked at me from the corner of my eyes, unnoticed by the others, as they had their eyes closed in approval.

I was sure that neither Chocolat nor Red ever told anyone but me, about what truly did happened between them once.

"All in all I can say that he seemed to attract headstrong, loyal and fearless women just like a magnet, whether they were now Caninu or Felineko, but the amount of Felinekos in his life surely prevailed." The Director explained and I nodded to that.

" _Amen to that_." I mumbled as I looked at Red, who looked aside from embarrassment, mouthing something, before sitting back down.

I looked at him the way he was and the way these two women, The Director and Rose, snickered at him, knowing him so much better than I do, knowing all about a past i could not even fathom, especially his time with this Helena he had spoken about a few days ago, the one girl who had sacrificed her life for him, to make sure he lived on.

Even though I considered myself to that kind of Woman Red willingly or unwillingly attracted, wasn´t i sure if everything we encountered so far, would have been the same way, if I, for example, would not have fallen unconscious on the Hindenburg and somehow managed to flee with the medallion..., would I have still met Red somhow and would everything have played out as it did?

Kind, headstrong, fearless..., besides of bugs there wasn´t much I feared in this world..., and we did argued on quite a regular base if you ask me and unless it really hurts my feelings, I am not as offended as I might should be, when we get in a fight.

A fight between us last for maybe two days at most, before we just make up again, as it is kinda stupid and nerve-wracking to have to depend on someone you are on bad terms with, to make sure you guys stay alive while being on missions out there in the sky.

In that case I was sure no Caninu woman could ever take my place and stay with it for such a long time as I did.

It lasted a long time until Red and I admitted our feelings for each other, but if I shall be honest, we had always been like a big family, Chocolat included of course, and I always felt more for him than for a simple friend, or even a best friend.

Still if I was a Caninu-girl, hypothetically spoken of course, I bet I would have ended up as Red´s second adoptive sister, or maybe just a very close friend.

I really have to thank the circumstances that I am the way I am, for making it possible for Red to feel the way he feels about me nowadays, or for meeting him at all.

"Anyways I think we are kind of leaving someone out here, and I might have forgotten to properly introduce myself." The Director explained as she looked at me.

"My Name is Grenadine Cherrypie, Director of the Savarin Orphanage, named after Maranell Savarin Wolvenra, the rightful Supreme lord of Ragnarök and my Mentor.

I lead this Orphanage since the past 11 years now and I can proudly say, that I raised many children, under them also Red and Chocolat, to righteous adults.

At least I have not really heard any complaints from the people who have either taken one of the children in, or of those who have become adults and lived for themselves, like Red and Chocolat." Mrs. Cherrypie explained with a laugh and I nodded with a smile.

Although I had heard some things of her from Red and Chocolat in the last few years, wasn´t I really able to imagine any adult putting up with Red and his ways for such a long time, I always asked myself who must have educated him, to make it able for him to live so independently for 4 years, after all he did survived day to day in a society such as nowadays, where money seemed to be everything.

But now I was plainly able to see what kind of person that had to be, in the directors eyes I could see kindness and strength, charity and compassion, loyalty and a deep wisdom, a wisdom which came not only from caring for children, but a wisdom which went further than anything I had ever seen.

If I wouldn´t know it better, I would say that she had lived for far longer than it looked.

Longer than Grandma..., or at least lived in a world that was so completely different to the world we are living now.

I often say that people who lived through wars and survived them were most likely quite wise, but here I for once saw a person who truly did that, she had survived, through one of the worst wars in history at least thats the vibe I get when looking in the dephts of her eyes.

"Your thoughts are right Elh, I live longer than I do look.

I might be 70 by now, but since the Shepherd Republic was founded 1.500 years ago, it is safe to say that I am 1.520 years old.

I was 20 years old, before our master accidently froze the entire island in a deep sleep for 1450 years, since 50 years I am walking and talking again, at the side of my master.

But even before my King took up the fight with Lycan I was with him.

I was born 6 years after the war began, my home was nowhere, we were a group of nomads, my mother died by my birth and a father I never knew, all my life I saw people dying before my eyes and I always believed that this should be my fate as well someday, but it all came different.

My Master, King Maranell, found me on a battlefield as sole survivor _ **,**_ a young child of barely 4 years _ **, the last of the remaining 11 children of our caravan, that had survived the self-inflicted sacrificing,**_ all in order for a few of us to survive.

I saw so many friends died, _their lifeforce drained by an ancient machine_ , we had found and brought back to function, all to make sure we survived.

As only two of us were alive anymore, the one I held close to me as an older brother, the Caninu Boy _**Malt, named after one of his ancestors**_ , sacrificed his own life, firing the canon which drained his lifeforce to destroy the enemy and to make sure I could survive somehow.

From one moment to another I suddenly was all alone.

I stayed in the machine all the time, living from the rest of the rations i posessed, shutting myself away from the world, never once going out even when I heard the raging war outside, a noise i tried desperately to block out.

I was so afraid of everything out there.

But from one day to another everything was silent, the battles had ceased and I thought that this might be my chance, I opened up the door and took a peak outside.

Beside of the wind no sound was to hear, outside everything was silent.

The reason for that was simple.

They were all dead, there was no one to fight anymore.

I was on this battlefield, all alone, no food, no drinkable water, starving and lonely, if Master Maranell would not have found me, I would have died sooner or later, that I am sure of.

Although it lasted quite a while until I trusted him enough to see him face to face, previously hiding in the Machine, he took me in as soon as I asked him and from then on he raised me 16 years long as his daughter, friend and assistant, while we roamed the scorched-out battlefields together, helping when we found anyone who needed help..., helping where we could.

I didn´t know at all who he was at first, to me he had been a stranger, a friend and then a father but he became so much more to me, that's why I saw much of him, things only I have seen.

Somehow I knew that he was no ordinary man, so it structed me not at all as strange that some people revered him, while others hated on him, blaming him for something out of his might.

I can tell that I know a side of him, which others might not ever get to see and it was obvious that I fell in love with him not long after I reached legal adulthood.

As I didn't know any one of my age and also did not felt much for anyone else, which I encountered on our journey, I pondered for months, until I asked him and he fulfilled a dream to me, he married me." Director Cherrypie explained, much to my and more so to Red´s surprise.

"Wait you and my dad..., had been a pair?" The same as dumbfounded.

"Indeed, I know this sounds stupid now, as he is an ancient King, thousands of years old, but back then the times were different, also he did looked quite young for his age, not more than 30 or 40 at most, not to mention that i am certain, that the entire centuries he has spent alone as a nomad must have made him lonely as well, secretly yearning for the touch of a female being, whose feelings are pure.

I don´t know if mine had been so pure as he wished for, but i knew that mine were at least strong enough to be conveyed to him, I lived, although at the side of one of the strongest men in history, in constant fear of dying, while seeing all that misery which had befallen our world, our home, I was so glad and thankful for having King Maranell at my side.

That man brought me joy, luck, love and passion, as well as a calling, the will to help others.

But as a grim contrast, he was inertly broken..., seeing war, fighting and hatred throughout the centuries he had lived, made him incredibly sad.

He often said, that with his disappearance he thought that the world would become peaceful, routinized in the changing of Kings and Queens the folk had chosen on a regular base, no one would be seeking for more than they are capable of handling, that the existence of a being with too many power was what attracted conflict the most, as everyone sought to gain that kind of power for themselves, that's why he hid himself.

But by doing so the world was without a true leader, without an active guardian, observer and mediator, who was able to keep the order of everything together.

I never really knew what he meant as back then I was still oblivious of who that men truly was, not to mention that I never had a real history lesson since we were always on the run constatnly in a struggle for survival, he only called himself Quynne Savarin and as such I had married him.

For 10 years we had been a pair, 4 years before he returned back on the stage of the world and took up the fight and for 6 years ever since the Stasis-spell, which he had accidently spoken upon Shangri-La, wore off, in all this time after meeting loyal men who revered him who followed him in his yjourney and helped us doing what we could do in these times, I finally understood just who it had been I was around all these years and what kind of responsibility he had taken on, to ensure that the peace could be uphold.

Not to mention that his health went down as well after the battle with Lycan and that one year in wich he established the life on Shangri-La, not fast but it was visible, and I didn´t wanted to cause him any more stress.

I told him that I would release him out of his oath of marriage, as it was but a childish dream and that he had far better things to do, than to deal with a stupid young woman, who had chained him into her own selfish little world, that I had understood that he wasn't just there for me alone, but for everyone, that I had to set him free for him to taken upon his role again.

He accepted my reasons just as back then as I asked him to marry me, it was never a really official marriage anyways and although everyone knew we had been a pair was I never addressed as queen or anything of that, not that i wanted that at all, so you won´t find me in any of your family trees.

Of course, the story was vastly exaggerated by the media on Shangri-La and it came close to a scandal but we managed to calm things down.

However, things quickly cooked up high again as barely half a year later I met _**Merlin, my late Husband,**_ with whom I gave birth to my _**daughter, Mayven, 35 years ago**_ , people kept saying that he was the reason I left the King, and that my daughter was probably the illegitimate daughter of King Maranell, but even that we mastered with the Kings help." She explained to us and I saw it literally before me as she spoke.

A crying child, left all alone on a battlefield, scattered corpses and broken war-machines all around.

Living in a broken machine herself, day to day fearing for its life.

Then suddenly, a cloaked figure appears before the crying child, and although the child is cautions and hides for a while, the cloaked figure seems friendly and gives the child food and warmth in this ice-cold world, he even takes it in his arms to comfort it.

Then as the child has found its trust in the cloaked figure, who turns out to be a kind and righteous man, they walk away together, far away from the battles towards the horizon, on their own journey, first as friend, then as father and daughter..., and lastly as lovers.

"However the King never forgot me, even then as my Husband died on a sickness, he helped me through the sorrow, he comforted me with his words and actions, just like the father he once had been to me, he gave me a job as I struggled to pay the bills and to care for Mayven.

Even after I was send here to keep an Eye on his own child, you Red , the King occasionally visited us all in his disguise as Quynne Savarin, I called him our benefactor to explain his constant visits to you children and the potential parents who came, well it wasn´t that far from the truth, as most of the Children had been war-orphans from Shangri-La, or those who lost their families during Baion´s Attack at Shangri-La and after his attack at the Shepherd Republic.

He played with the Children, also with you and your sister, he was always there for me, never once he made me feel as though he forgot me, even after you were gone on your own, he still visited from time to time..., and I must admit that I still look forward to his visits." The Director exclaimed, still blushing a little, putting a strain of hair behind her ear.

"Wow..., this sure is a mind-blow..., I mean so basically, it could also have happened, that you could have been my biological mother instead of Merveille Million, I mean since you and dad were married for so long..., you surely must have done it a lot with him, although I can barely imagine that, you as a young woman with my dad looking like an old geezer or a middel-aged man, like Quebec.

Then again I never would dare to imagine you having sex..., still you got a daughter after all, although I always believed her to be your nice." Red mindlessly stated while I face-palmed in shame.

The director only sighed..., I bet she had already given up on teaching him any delicacy towards women, as it proved to be a futile act.

"Maybe..., but then again, we hadn´t had that much intercourse..., back then I married him because I needed secureness..., to have someone at my side, whom I could absolutely trust and who would not someday disappear on me as well.

It might have been a childish way to bind him on me, but remember, I was left by all my friends as they sacrificed each other one by one, until I was left alone.

I was just a small child who learned to deeply love the one and only man who was constantly at my side, every day.

If I would have to count, I would say that I barely slept with him more than 50 times perhaps, in 10 years, means 5 times a year.

It could have happened that I would have gotten pregnant by him, but the ratio was too low compared to other couples nowadays.

Also regarding Mayven, you are right, she is said to be my niece, but that has a good reason.

In order to make sure that she was not mobbed, since the people did already thought the wrong thing, as they began to construct various made-up stories, about her being either the illegitimate daughter of their King or the daughter of my extramarital affair while I was still together with the King, we had to make everyone on the island believe a different story, which even the King officially approved of.

Merlin and I came together quite surprisingly and not so long after my break-up with the King, barely half a year after it, so the whole affair was treated as even more scandalous as my marriage with the King at all had been treated.

On his advice, to avoid Mayven growing up with a bad reputation, we constructed the story of her being my Niece, which I and my new Husband had adopted after her parent´s died on sickness, she herself is though aware of the opposite fact of course.

Still, regardless who she would have been born from, for me she has always been my daughter and that won't ever change." Miss Cherrypie explained and Red nodded.

Luckily she did not take it badly, I bet she is used to such questions and suggestions coming from Red.

"And that husband of yours, Merlin, you said he died on a sickness and that this was the reason you started being a nurse right?" Red asked and I was shortly before choking that stupid Caninu.

"Yeah, Merlin..., he was the King´s Assistant and we didn´t really liked each other at first, even while I was still together with Maranell..., but after I sacrificed my own feelings for the King, in order to set him free to properly rule his kingdom, it was none other but him who came to comfort me.

Back then as we finally hooked up together after a few months of reflecting and fixing this broken heart I had inflicted on myself, he admitted that he had always been jealous at the King for having me as his wife, as he in reality always liked me and my personality a lot.

That's why he was always so moody around us, interfering in our relationship as best as his job, as the King´s assistant, allowed it, especially when he saw me flirting with the King.

It sure was a silly and childish way of acting as an adult man, but it made me laugh when I felt down about my own self-inflicted heartbreak and that's what he could do best, when he got serious about cheering me up.

The King gave his outmost consent to our relationship, that's why we came together so quickly, but of course it all was discovered by the paparazzi and in less than a few hours after the first kiss I gave him, rumors had been spread all around the island.

Yeah my life with Merlin wasn´t always easy, but it was a happy one, regardless of all the rumors and dirt that had been sprayed on us.

His death, 15 years ago really threw me out of my usual world and turned it several notches darker, but the work as a School nurse and later as orphanage director, the support of the adult Mayven, as well as being surrounded by children, gave me new strength, not for the least for the Kings visits.

We went back to the friends base and I am really grateful for that." The Director explained with a longing glance, while I stabbed my elbow in Red´s side, making him inhaling sharply and whincing in pain..., he really had no delicacy left of what this woman must have taught him.

"Anyways I doubt that you are here to speak and hear about my story, and i am sure i have told you guys enough of that already..., no you guys are here to hear about yours, Red, and about Chocolat´s Past, so I think we should first off give these memories back to you, which we have hold on for so long, what do you say Rose?" The director explained.

"Indeed, as you rightfully said to we both hold one each a part of the key, so without you I will not be able to do anything either way." Rose explained and the Director nodded.

"It is important to know ones origins, however ..., Red, knowing about your past will definitely change you a lot, you will not be able to say that you are the same person you are right now.

Regaining all the memories of _Red Savarin Wolvenra, Prince of ten Moons_ might even go as far as to make _**Red Savarin, the Scarlet Hunter**_ vanish, that must be clear to you.

Also knowing your past and origin, will also mean that you will gain knowledge about all the things you have learned, all about the still ongoing conflict in this world, and it will require from you to make a momentous Choice, whether you sit back and watch the future as it unfolds, or if you take up actions to forge the future yourself.

Whatever you chose to do, be aware that becoming Prince once again will have a direct impact on this world, you will sooner or later be chased by Lycans henchmen, as you and your father are their biggest threat, sure you might get chased even without knowing your origins, but knowing them will not only make you more conscious about the importance of your survival, but also the consequences if you would die.

All of what you will get to know, it will change your current world forever, it will give you access to knowledge you once held, about magic, great power and skills, but also to the greatest of responsibilities you hold just by being alive.

Becoming the Prince of 10 moons again will show you how many people actually count on your future and how many lifes you have to defend, protect and lead on.

Also _**you will hold the very fate of the world in your hand**_ , _ **as**_ _**one of the Lorekeepers of Shangri-La and the Free Regions**_ , that much must be clear to you.

Some knowledge will be private to you for sure, but some will have lasting consequences on the world if it would ever be extracted, but to preserve these memories, which are stuck within your mind, for the future, is essential and beyond just important...!

Knowing that you will change in any possible way, that more than just one folk will depend on your survival and lead, and knowing that the knowledge you hold leads either to this world´s salvation or damnation..., are you still willing to get to know your past?" The Director asked and I honestly never saw Red thinking about something so hard.

5 minutes..., 10 minutes..., 15 minutes, nearly 20 minutes passed while he thought about the just said, before he looked up and opened his mouth to make his choice.

 _ **Red´s Pov:**_

Hearing all this of course would make anyone back away..., but it was not the first time that my existance made the difference between life and death, sure back then i just had but one or at most 5 enemies to fight and here I have a whole army and many gruesome beasts standing against me and the world, but if my survivial is crucial for this world then i at least should have the right to know all about it.

I looked up and looked in the face of the Director, in this i could see determination, love and kidness but also endless worry.

i turned my head to look up to rose who looked with a similiar expression at me only that heres had a quite sisterly notch to it, meaning that she counted on me no matter what.

last but not least i looked to Elh, sitting on the armrest of my armchair, in her eyes i could see deep trust and love and compassion as well as loyalty.

"Whatever you chose i will stand by your side no matter what." that were the words i heard in my mind, the words she had so often spoken to me when I stood before a dangerous and important choice to make.

And I saw them today as well, the deep trust in here eyes gave me strenght to go through with my choice.

In the corner of the door I could see how Chocolat, who had re-entered the house, looked at me, with a thumb up she signalled that she had heard everything and that she too trusted in my own judgement and decision to make.

If these two girls showed that much trust in me, who was I to chicken out now, just because things might change largely.

"I have decided..., I still intend to get my memories back, out of the selfish wish to know who I exactly am, even if the danger occurs that I will lose the self I am now.

However, as you said that this wisdom can change the world in some way, I see it as important then that this wisdom is not going to get lost, for when we need it but cannot use it, things might go far more downhill as when I know it and can try to counter our all demise.

Lycan will be after me either way, just as you said.

But I am willing to fight, willing to keep this world together, if it means I can save other people.

I don´t know if Lycan might manage to someday somehow extract this knowledge out of me, which shall be crucial for the world, but before that happens, I will do my most to prepare against him and his kind, for the event that he would succeed in his plan.

I don´t know if the world is ready for me, but I am ready for the world that awaits me..., maybe I do change, but as long as I don´t forget the things I know until now, I am sure I can bear it." I explained and Rose and the director nodded, same as Elh and Chocolat.

"That explanation suits me, how about you?" Rose asked.

"A good answer indeed, very well, as it is your wish we both will now carry out the ritual to unseal the knowledge and memories, we had closed away and in addition we will try to put some spells around your consciousness.

It will keep your mind from being infiltrated and informations and memories being extracted, mostly by other Magicians which specialize in that kind of complex magic same as I do, as soon when you get your memories back you will get to know the fact that Lycan is not even the peak of all evil in this world, but quite close to it, he´s not the only one who would do anything for power, that must be clear to you before you can go further on your Journey." Rose explained and I nodded with determination.

"Well, then, shall we begin?" the Director asked and we nodded.

"Then come with me, all of you!" The Director demanded,, as she stood up to lead us somewhere, gesturing also to Chocolat to come along, that woman was as sharpminded as always..., what a relief.

 _ **To be continued...**_

 _ **Part 1 done, as this chapter will become most likely a 3-4-part story, it would have truly become far too big for the actual main story, still I hope you will be interested to read, see you soon in Part 2.**_

 _ **I will read this story to the end before returning back to the Main Story, so bear with it for a while.**_

 _ **As always, read, recommend and review.**_

 _ **Sincerely your truly, the Storyteller and his books.**_


	2. The House of Memories II, Reminiscing

**空とロマンス**

 **Sola to Romansu (Sky and Romance)**

 **Important side-stories**

 **Book 1:** **The House of Memories / Part 2**

 _ **Darven Islands, Savarin Orphanage, Chocolat´s Pov:**_

As I walked through the halls of my old home, I got quite the nostalgic feeling, I looked around here and there spotting things which I remembered, there was for example a podium on which a broken vase stands, which had been fixed with superglue.

Instead of buying a new one it stood there as a reminiscent.

One day, as the Director had to go towards Pharaoh to buy supplies, Red had once again a few of his rowdy minutes, while playing with the other kids, he accidently bumped into the podium knocking the same over and so broke the vase on top of it.

Not only was the vase expensive but also one of the favorites of the Director.

Red, not only fearing the anger of the Director but also her disappointment spent three entire hours searching for every single piece of the Broken vase and in order to hide things, he glued all the pieces of the vase back together.

Surprisingly he managed to get the whole thing back together, more or less, at least it still looked like a vase.

The Director, although frustrated due to the broken vase saw Red´s dedication with which he had put the puzzle, as best as able to him, back together, even sacrificing an entire day of freedom for it.

In the end he even saved his pocket money to buy a new vase and apologized to the Director for it, who had acted as though she saw no difference in the vase before and after.

Of course, she forgave him if he promises to be a little more careful around valuable object from then on...

Yeah, we had some good but also some bad times here, but overall, I would not want to miss the time I had spent here with everyone.

"Is this you, Chocolat?" Anastasia asked as she looked at a photography hanging on the wall.

"Yes, the third from the right, Red next to me, then come the twins Millie and Vincent, then Thea and then comes _**Maxwell**_ , quite an obnoxious brat if you ask me, far worse than Red could ever be.

He was quite materialistic, always searching for praise and always looked down on the other kids who had not much, especially on me and Red as we were the only ones with no recollection of our past.

I haven´t seen him in ages, not that I really care, I always despised his nasty character..., I heard a rich family had taken him in, much to his delight.

To be honest we hadn´t much contact with anyone of the other orphans after we went to live our own lives, so I cannot tell you anything about them than the things I still know from our mutual past.

I had been a cute and shy little girl, not at all as headstrong and stubborn as I am now, at least so the Director always said, there were even a time as I was terribly shy, maybe it was after I arrived here.

But meeting Red must have changed me, to the better, at least I am a lot braver than before." I explained and White nodded.

"Indeed, you are more daring than I had ever imagined myself in the past, of how you would end up after you have grown, but all I can see is that whatever happened to you, it was a good thing.

You have grown to someone which I and I am sure others as well, can absolutely count on, no wonder that Red has become such a strong and famous hunter, with you as his sister on his side." He explained and I blushed deep red.

"Yeah I saw that too in those missions I had for you, he might be a goofball and a loudmouth at times, but he at least sooner or later gets all the things, which he has promised, done..., somehow." Anastasia explained blushing as well.

" _Not to mention that he does look good, if you ignore his attitude most of the time_." I heard her mumbling as she looked aside.

I was not quite sure but if I wouldn´t know it any better I would say that Anastasia had developed a crush on Red..., should I tell her that it was hopeless, that Red had Elh?

I guess for now I better keep quiet maybe it only stays as a crush, who knows.

"Yeah, Red is amazing, but I too can say that I am famous, even I have a fanclub, even if small, at least there are a lot of people who appreciate what I am doing and some girls who wish to become like me when they grow, it makes me blushing all the time when I hear it.

It tells me that despite my past and my own personal problems, there are some people counting on me and even going as far as to idolize me.

Mr. Quebec for example always says that the sight of me is like the rising sun after a dark night." I replied with a smile.

"Wait Quebec..., tall, Tiger-Felidion, white haired, one eyed and is so bad on foot he has to use a cane?" Father asked dumbfounded.

"Yeah..., sounds like him..., what´s up with that, do you know him?" I asked.

"Indeed, he is an old friend of mine, we once had been in a Hunter team as he was still working freely, before her entered the Kurvaz and even became an Air-Chief-Marshall.

I had met him over a decade ago, shortly after we arrived here and had to get us a living, I was to earn money while Tereza searched for clues to your whereabouts.

As I was foreign to these places, I needed a job in which I would get to know their terrain better, I went to the Harbor of Pharaoh to get a job somewhere, but as it was hard for me to even communicate with the people, was that of course easier said than done.

That's when I met _**Quebec and his team consisting of three Caninu, Bruno, Nago and Cacao**_ and with whom I worked for a while to earn money for the family after they literally found me there, slumped on the pier, succumbing to my sorrow and worthlessness.

One each of them was a unique character, Quebec was the one who got things done as the leader of the Group, stubborn, headstrong, muscular and always ready a Brawl.

Back then he still had his 2 legs and two eyes in good shape, he also wasn´t that melancholic but rather loved to look to the future of things.

 _ **Nago**_ was calmer than the others and more on the composed side, he was _**a mysterious Character**_ , with an unknown and most likely tragic backstory, as not even Quebec knew exactly who he was, nevertheless that old Tiger trusted him and his calm and analytic abilities, the strange thing on him was most likely the fact that he always wore a strangely shaped sword with a certain crest on it.

Nago never explained it, but I think he must have been _**a member of an old Warrior-clan**_ from somewhere around the Republic, most likely from Andalusia.

I heard that 20 years ago there had been many civil wars down there and that many Clans literally died out with their remaining members spread out throughout the Republic, thinking they might be the only one left, who knows, maybe Nago was the only one left of his Clan.

 _ **Cacao**_ on the other hand was the direct opposite of Nago, obnoxious, cheerful, a little stupid and unmannered to a fault, but by god he was one of the best pilots I knew.

There was no dogfight he hasn´t won or at least ended in a draw, if nothing else then he was at least on par with the top pilots of Pharaoh, I heard that _**he once had been an Air-Robo GP Champion,**_ with a wife and a Daughter, but ever since a colossal accident at one of the Races, as his Machine caught fire and he had to crash-land on a nearby island, he wasn´t the same.

He quit racing as he always believes that his machine had been manipulated by his race-stall due to his Team leaders' shady businesses and bets.

As he had no real evidence to prove his claim he was shunned by his team and lost his contract and succumbed to alcohol, which ended up In near coma and his wife and daughter leaving him.

Quebec found him in a bar as he was on the search for a skilled pilot and promised him to find evidences for the Racing team´s scheme.

In the end they never did but the both of them grew close together.

 _ **Bruno**_ was just a unique character as all the others, he could go from calm, analytic and composed to cold-hearted and irascible in less than 10 seconds, he always had big goals which I thought was but only achievable by barely legal means.

In the end, not long after I joined, the Group disbanded several years ago, I entered to the end-phase of them, still, the last few jobs we had made together were quite lucrative, so I could not really complain.

I have no clue what happened to Nago, but _Cacao has left to live in Bassett, his old home_.

Quebec and Bruno became part of the Kurvaz and quickly rose in their Ranks there.

I went back to my Family in the Korat Archipelago, with the Money I had earned, not for the last as I heard about _ **an Attack at an Airedale Orphanage**_ in the night before, on a New-Moon night.

I feared for the worst and so I got dropped off by Quebec near the old Farmhouse, which my family and friends had renovated.

Still until today, Quebec was the only one of the Shepherd Republic, who knew about my secret as being a Kumear, nowadays he only works as a Hunter for jobs he can use his Mecha for, as his leg hasn´t yet healed from an injury from several years ago, during his previous Job at the Kurvaz.

No idea what exactly happened back then, I can plainly see that the memories of that time is hurting him.

I heard he was a high rank member, even going as far as to command an Airship of them himself." Father explained and this information sure came new to me.

Of course, I knew that Mr. Quebec had a past with the Kurvaz and Bruno Dondurma personally, but I didn´t know nor realized, that he was that important back then..., no wonder that Opera often consults him, if she needs any advice, and asks us if we have seen him somewhere, when we visit Merveille.

"I described you to him..., does this mean he maybe has known all the time where you had been..., if yes why didn´t he ever told me?" Father exclaimed, his anger rising.

"Well for the most people in the Republic I was but a simple Caninu, and I wasn´t the only one with an unusual Hair-color, so it was not as if he must have done it on purpose.

Prior to a few days ago, even I had no idea I was a Kumear, I too have always believed to be a Caninu, so he is not really to blame for that.

I also only know him through Red as he tried to find work as a hunter-trainee but everybody just turned their back on him, all but Quebec who took him in as apprentice, as he apparently saw potential of a great Hunter in Red.

Even though I liked him for that hadn´t I that much contact with him.

Maybe he just not realized that the missing daughter of his friend was sitting infront of his nose all the time..., I mean men are like this, even Red sometimes misses important but obvious details, which are right before his nose, far too often even." I explained and White and Father sweatdropped at my claim about men in general.

"Ah, I remember, this used to be my and Red´s room." I explained as we walked past a door.

"Wait what, you guys slept in one room?" Father asked, instantly back on being enraged.

"Well we were kids and Red was the one Chocolat trusted most from all of us, I´m though not sure how that came." Thea explained as she walked inside and looked around, before remembering something as she looked at a photo that hang on the wall not far from the door.

I almost burst in tears, overwhelmed with nostalgia, as we entered the room, it was almost identically to the time I lived here, hardly anything had changed, it was as the Director said, if there ever comes a time in which we do not know any further, we were always welcome to come back, that there was always an open door for us.

"Maybe it was because of that time as Chocolat went missing and Red brought her back, alongside this red-clad Hunter and that Girl with the silver and rose hair and the bandages all over her body.

She sure looked strange, she didn´t even had a visible tail..., was she perhaps one of these fr..." Thea asked unsure, but I instantly knew from whom and about what she spoke and I would not let her said it.

My fist hit the door faster than I could stop it, most likely startling everybody, Rose was a nice person, I knew her only briefly, prior to today, since she and Red´s `Master´ helped us finding our way to go for the future, still I can barely remember that.

I met her again during the events on Airedale a few hours ago and after she traveled with us here and I got to see that she was a wonderful and kind person, who worried a lot about the people she cared for, and her daughter Alexia was nice as well.

"Rose is no Freak, she is a really kind young woman..., don´t you dare mock her just because she is a hybrid!

All this prejudice..., it´s not like she wanted to be like this, none of them wanted to be like this!" I stated loudly and enraged, taking Thea aback.

"I´m sorry, I shouldn´t have said that." The same exclaimed.

"Damn right, you should have not, how dare you judge over other people, if you don´t even know them first hand?" I asked still fuming as White and Anastasia tried to calm me down, as well as held me back from doing anything to Thea.

"I sure don´t know how she has changed in the last few years, but the Rose I knew has been shy, friendly, a bit childish at times, but always concerned of others, trying to be as helpful as she can while having to struggle with her own problems, such a good soul deserves nothing but respect!" I spat in disgust to her unspoken words.

I knew for a fact that there were a lot of people still opposing to Hybrids, Cassandra and Reito at first weren´t all too happy about Red being a Hybrid as well, mostly because of their Granddaughter Elh dating him, but eventually they came around to like him as well as they understood that Red was different from Blank and Nero.

That he only wanted to help and protect.

The fact that only a small number of people even knew that Red was one of them, wasn´t helping the situation at all..., Nero and Blank, as well as Baion, really helped to taint the image of Hybrids, in such a way that it is hard to fix it again.

But I hope that there really is a way to make our society coexist with them, mostly for the ones who come after Red, Rose, Carmine and Alexia, Carmine has a good point there.

Ever since I know that Red is a Hybrid, I asked myself one single thing almost every night, if I had decided to keep the baby back then, would it have grown to become a Hybrid as well.

Not only would I have been too young to take care of a child as I was still one myself, no, if it had become a hybrid, it might have been ostracized by others, mobbed and tortured mentally maybe even physically.

When do Hybrid abilities show themselves, at what age, are there some ways to contain these powers from accidently emerging prematurely?

If I would have known the answer, would I have kept the child?

I don´t know, if giving the Hybrids an Island to live upon, would be so good..., it would seem to them that they are outcast by our society, shipped off to a secluded island where they shall remain.

Like the ones sick with the Pestilence, during the ancient wars..., instead of helping them some way, they were brought away to a place, flocked together and left to tend for themselves..., no one cared if they survived.

In my Eyes a secluded Island where the Hybrids live, wouldn´t look much different to that example.

I think it is far easier to somehow include them in our society as equal beings to us, just like back then, as all races lived in harmony.

But maybe, thanks to Baion's dark plans, hybrids might be seen as supporters of Lycan.

" _What if they are going to be persecuted someday_?" I thought in shock, as I looked at the Photo of Rose and Carmine together with me and Red, while we remained in an awkward silence after my outburst.

The others looked around uncomfortably, while I was bound to the photo here in the room, of a time which was so damn easy and carefree to me and Red, compared to nowadays.

Rose had such a friendly smile on her bandaged face, and although Carmine had hide himself behind a mask and a large hat for a long time due to his own feelings and also to avoid being picked on for it, they seemed to be happy, at least during that moment.

Rose told me, during our flight as I asked her about the Seal, which she had made for my Memories, and Hybrids in general, that neither she nor Carmine had any clear memories of the past, no clear recollection of how old they even were.

In Carmines case, the only thing he knew with certainty about his past, was where he was from and that he had an older Brother, maybe because the same had been kidnapped together with him, according to what he said and what Elh told me earlier, as he mentioned it to her.

However had he no idea how long that has been in the past or when he even was born, as he was often set to sleep by Baion for maybe quite a long time, as he had no recollection if the technical innovations nowadays had been present to the time of his childhood.

He could not even say when, precisely at what age, he had been kidnapped.

If anything, he could be as old as Rose, although not physically.

I cannot imagine how he must have feel, if he was but a small child, either way I was sure that he must have been in so much pain and agony, unable to break free from it.

Every glance in a mirror reminds him of what has been done to him, same as Rose.

Rose only has snippets of her Memories left to her, she knows that she can use magic and that she had something to do with Abyssinia but she was not clear what.

However, there was something strange which I had witnessed earlier on Airedale, back then as Rose, Elh and Beluga met for the first time.

It looked as though the two of them recognized Rose, but were unsure about it, sure, after all she looks much like Yulungur, like a human, so fully without fur, but something just tells me that they most likely have some though in the back of their head, which made them think that they might know her from somewhere.

As old as both are wouldn´t I be surprised about that fact and back then before Baion Kidnapped her, Rose must have looked like a Felineko, as she said.

She didn´t show it to us nor during the battle, but apparently, she suffers a so-called _**Reverse Trance**_ , similar to Red´s trance just in the opposite way, as Rose is in a permanent human form, her trance form looks the way she had looked as a Felineko.

Apparently, Carmine was able to do the same but he rarely does trance, he mainly uses his skills in dual-sword-wielding and his Mechas consisting of the Red Dragon Mecha and his old Mecha _**Main Gauche (ZAHAK-AZ107).**_

Even Alexia is able to trance, but Rose had forbidden her to do so.

Most likely to not give other people any chances nor reasons to ostracize her for it.

At least her best Friend Maka, was indifferent to her being a hybrid, for the young Felineko girl, her Hybrid-friend was just that, a close friend, nothing more nothing less.

As I investigated the photo for any kind of reluctance in the eyes or gesture of my former self, I didn´t came around thinking about the things Rose had explained to me.

As she and her husband were the only other Hybrid I met, who did not tried to kill us all, it was only normal that I would ask her about Hybrids in general, maybe so that I too could get a better understanding about them.

Even though both were older than Red, in terms of physical appearance, was Rose Number 4 and Carmine Number 7.

Back then I was confused and asked what she meant with these numbers.

She explained it so that Baion, according to the grade of their adaptability to the trance-power and other emerged abilities, called them in a numerical row.

Blank and Nero, who could use _**their Hybrid-Forces**_ better than the others and so pilot Lares and Lemures, but were unable to trance, either willingly or unwillingly, were Number 1 and 2.

Red, although initially called a failure by Baion, was Number 3, even though he was unable to trance willingly and only while feeling great anger or during a Crisis, as a means of Survival.

He had a perfect disguise, if used on the outside to investigate, with his Caninu form no one would suspect a thing, at least so Carmine explained it.

Rose as being a Paladin on top of a Hybrid was number four, she too could use some forces but as side-effect, her own memories were severed more and more, the more often she used her Trance-form.

Maybe she feared the same for Alexia, that's why she forbids her to use them in the first place, as she might forget that Rose and Carmine were her parents or that she belonged to the good side..., a thought unbearable for Rose, who often had the feeling not to belong anywhere but at the side of Carmine and Alexia.

There were apparently 2 other Hybrids called Rouge and Vermillion, Number 5 and 6, who were called spares by Baion.

Carmine, the one with the least hybrid forces but with _the ability of Predictive Dreams bordering on Clairvoyance_ , was Number 7 despite the fact that he may be as old as Rose.

He looked same as Rose and Red during trance, like a male middle-aged Human, according to Baion's files which Merveille had stolen as she fled the facility, the experimentation on him was incomplete and he should have been discarded along Rose sooner of later.

 _ **Carmines older Brother**_ , _**Crimson Canelé**_ , was _**Number 0**_ , according to the files, he managed to flee somehow, as Baion just began to experiment with him, through unknown means.

It was unclear why he didn´t took Carmine along on his breakout, but looking at the Memory loss of both Rose and Carmine, it was very likely that Crimson just could not remember that he even had a brother in the first place and that he just wanted to safe his own life, due to that fact Carmine never held a grudge against his brother, even if he suffered for all the years after that.

Still, Crimson´s escape _**forced Baion to abandon his laboratory**_ and move his facility for the first time, to the facility Merveille later on worked as well, until she found out what exactly she even did there the whole time, escaped while simultaneously burning the facility down, forcing Baion to move a second time.

While Red was often on Mission, I had time to speak with Merveille and get myself some informations about her and Red´s Past, so I did knew a few things Red didn´t really cared to know.

She even slipped the detail, that despite destroying the Facility, she kept the files and data of Baion as she found the mere science of creating artificial life still fascinating.

I told her, that as long as she would not use her knowledge to create something evil again, I would keep shut about that fact to Red.

She replied with saying that everything she had created was initally not evil, that the further course of environment and involvement was shaping her creations, or Children as she called them.

Back then due to Baion manipulating Blank and Nero with his words and actions, they became evil, while Red became good as Merveille helped him to escape.

Rose and Carmine stayed good because they outmost despised Baion and his experiments and everything which was created after Baion was gone and which would get an appropriate treatment, could prove to become a valuable asset to our Society, so her words.

This claim unnerved me a little as it sounded like she was willing to experiment further in that area, even wishing to get working results, or that she maybe had already created something which had no real relation to Baion but more to her.

Could she have gone as far as to create another Hybrid..., maybe even more than one?

Merveille was quite secretive if it was related to her researches, occasionally she slips details before brushing them off as nonsense, like back then as she said, although meant as a joke, that she was Red´s mother, which in reality was the truth, as Red had found out now, through some of his hidden memories resurfacing by his father opening the seal partially.

Still the thing with King Maranell Wolvenra´s involvement in Red birth as he is now, she never mentioned, maybe because she was forced to, out of safety measures or simply because she deemed it as unnecessary, as Red had no memory about that time anyways.

3 of 8 known Test-subjects, or better said, Victims, were known to us and still alive, 2 were dead and the whereabout of the other 3 were unknown, whether Crimson survived out here or not.

But from what I heard from Rose was the absence of Rouge and Vermillion in the Battle 2 years ago quite an unnerving fact as it might mean that they roam around somewhere freely and unrestrained.

They once had attacked both Rose and Carmine here in the Shepherd Republic, back then as they lived with us in _the Orphanage, as the same was still in Airedale,_ before being partially destroyed in another attack _**by unknown attackers**_ and then rebuild and transported to the Darven Islands, on a secluded and hidden Island, for safety measures, by King Maranell.

Maybe that was that attack Father spoke of, in the Night of a New Moon..., after being persecuted by Lycanians it was only right to assume that they must have found us, either themselves or this New Moon Society.

2 years after I arrived here in the Republic, with that guardian of mine, so that must have been the moment she died, protecting us all..., may her soul rest in peace.

The Attack of Vermillion and Rouge was of a similar nature, as it was to bring the escapees back to Baion and kill every bystander, to show him their both worth and loyalty, as they constantly feared to be disposed off, if they could not somehow gain Baion´s trust in them.

That Attack was a memory which Red and I had lost, or better said which was taken from us by Rose.

It wasn´t though the first attack, as Baion once tried it alongside Blank and Nero, not long after Red managed to flee by the hands of Merveille, Rose and Carmine, over a decade ago.

Back then Baion himself invaded Shangri-La with many of his Drones and Blank and Nero, but failed to kill the three, as Red´s other Father, King Maranell Wolvenra, defeated him and Rose and Carmine defeated Nero and Blank.

I still cannot really believe that fact, that both Red and I, orphans as we had always thought to be, were in reality members of two Royal families.

Red held the Blood of one of the oldest family in history and I was apparently a Kumear in disguise, still, unless I get my memories back, I can barely believe that claim, even if I wish it to become true, for then I would be able to get back together with my long-lost family.

But even with Maranell as father was the circumstances around Red just too complicated, as both Baion and Maranell technically seen were Red´s biological fathers.

Their Battle all these years ago, was like a fight of two parents over their child, only that one of them wanted to kill the child and the other tried to safe it and let it live a normal life.

Personally, I think Red has far more from Maranell than from Baion in him, but then again, Human-Red, as Red calls that trance-form himself, had not only the physiology but also a slightly more violent streak, in quite a minor way similar to Baion, to him.

But different to the same, is this violence only directed to his enemies, still, back then as he _fell victim to the Order_ and hurted Elh, I was afraid that this was the part of Baion that was within him and seeing, that it only needed a signal to be activated, I was a little afraid of Red, even afterwards, what if this signal somehow reappeared and once again let Red lose his mind and go berserk.

What if someone manages to _**find a way to reproduce that Signal**_ and tries to use Red as a willingness slave for their evil deeds.

I asked Merveille that question before and she said that there was maybe a way to keep that from happening, but it would require _**another Gene-modification**_ , something she didn´t wanted Red to go through again, unless he himself asks for it.

" _In the end we never had a dull moment in our life, even if we have forgotten most of it, wherever we went there was bound to be trouble along the way_." I mumbled as I followed the others, as Thea urged us on towards the outside to the Garden.

The same had not really changed that much from when I last saw it, the arrangement was still the same, the only thing that had changed were the flowers that meanwhile bloomed.

"I really missed the view." I stated to White as I looked to the wide horizon over the wooden fence.

"I loved it to look out of the window on sunny days in summer, letting the sun shine on me, while I spent hours in blissful tranquility, just watching the clouds fly by.

Back then the world was still fair, it always calmed me down even if I had a fight with Red or anyone else hours before, it helped me assorting my own feelings and to get a clear head once in a while." I explained as we walked after the others.

"It is a nice place indeed, I can really imagine it to me, to sit on the porch and sleep in one of these Rocking chairs all day long from morning to evening, I love tranquil days, guess it´s kinda a Felidion thing to just lie down and sleep without a care in the world." White replied and I snickered.

I could really imagine him lying on a thick branch of a tree in the summer sun, happily sleeping the day away.

I had to giggle at that thought, which was making him blush.

"The Grave is over here, near the cliff, back then as Miss Banmori had been here for two years, she always said that she loved the view, at least that's what I still remember from her, she often sit there with you in her arms, sleeping.

I was only 7 years old at that time, but even I managed to understand that she was beyond sorrowful while looking into the vast sky.

Now that I know what she had lost, it was only natural that she did so, most likely thinking of her parents, her family and her home.

As you might know am I from the Shepherd Republic, so I never knew that there were other places and Regions beside the few I know, it was the first time I saw a Kumear from close up.

But after I decided to become Lady Cherrypie´s successor for this Orphanage she explained everything to me, she took me with her towards Shangri-la and I even got to meet the King once.

The Aura which this man emits is incredible, gentle and strong most of the time, but I bet when he is angry the aura must be simply overwhelming.

It is hard to believe that the Red I always knew and loathed for his recklessness as a child, was actually a Prince and the tiny friend I had in you was a Princess, back then as I heard about it, I really felt myself quite insignificant compared to you two." Thea explained as she gestured over to a large white Marble Plate with a still visible Gravure inside.

" _Here lies Banmori Gongmeng_

 _1475-1500_

 _Valkyrie of the Orion Order and Panda-Kumear-citizen of Valhalla._

 _Protector of Princess Choco-Vanil Gelatorias Garontrias, 2_ _nd_ _princess of Valhalla._

 _Died in action on 15_ _th_ _December 1500, in order to protect the Orphanage and all of its inhabitants on Airedale."_

Underneath these informations, stood a speech and reading it made me feel that whoever had written it truly knew from what he talked.

" _`A broken home can always be rebuilt, but a lost life is never to be restored, only to be remembered._

 _May your soul rest in peace, knowing that your mission succeeded_!

 _We will never forget you and what you have given to us all._

 _May your soul rest in peace, before it is reborn´._

 _-Quynne Savarin!"_

Reading this script drove me to tears somehow.

The plate was not the only thing which stood here, on top of it I could see a stature featuring a female head in all detail.

Underneath I could see the crest of Valhalla, as White had shown me, as well as another crest, looking like 3 stars in a row on the forehead of a Kumear.

"The three Stars represent the Orion´s Belt, a star-constellation on the night sky with three bright stars in one line.

Their Position on the forehead has a special symbolism and they have even been included onto _**the Royal coat of arms**_ and _**the sacred Crown of Valhalla**_.

 _ **One star stands for Power**_ , that would be one on the right side, you know, as only the rightful should hold immense power to control it and effectively use it to the benefit of others as well, to protect them.

 _ **The star in the middle stands for Wisdom**_ , wisdom about many things, general Knowledge, as well as, in case of a Royal, important state-secrets and even Royal secrets, exclusive to the King.

 _ **The left Star stands for Loyalty**_ , loyalty towards family and folk, it´s very important as a reigning king, the one who rules without the loyalty and respect of his folk, is nothing but a man bound to fail.

Sometimes I ask myself if I had been such a King." Father explained to us as he stroke over the two Crests, before he kneeled deeply infront of the grave.

"Thank you, thank you Banmori that you protected Choco for us, that you made sure she was in safety, it was not always easy and there were surely many hard moments for her, but in the end, she lived and that's all thanks to you.

Even though you died far too young, did you die in outmost honor, on Behalf of my Position as former King of Valhalla do I thank you with all my heart.

Thank you..., may your soul rest in peace." He stated his head low.

"On behalf of the Royal Family of Savannah, do I, King White Savage XIII, thank you as well, for all what you have done and what you have sacrificed to protect so many people.

I too won´t ever forget your Name, may your soul soon be reborn, on that we can meet again and properly thank you for it." White stated as he stood next to me, as I too kneeled infront of the grave, he took my hand and looked deep in my eyes.

"I think it is the best you can do, regain those memories, even if they end up being frightening, even if only to remember Banmori." White stated on my unspoken feelings and words and I think he was right, I might now say something here at her grave, but who am I kidding, without any concrete memories was it hard to truly feel that my prayer to her soul and my gratefulness are genuine.

"Once you have regained your memories, come back and pray for real, if it is your wish, then you can be sure that whatever feeling you have is genuine." Father exclaimed next to me, nodding.

"I guess you guys are right, I have to regain my memories of her, to make sure I can genuinely feel for her again." I replied, having no memories of those who sacrificed their life for us really sucked, I cannot tell how worse I feel to have forgotten someone who gave up her life to protect me and others.

"Well I think we should get inside again, the Director must already wonder where we are, shall we?" Thea asked as we all were done with our prayer infront of the grave.

Nodding we made our way back inside.

While we walked the hallway I felt how I was observed, here and there the door to the rooms were open to a split, wide enough to recognize a few pairs of eyes looking through the splits.

"They seem to still be vary of us?" I mumbled.

"That's only natural we told them to stay still when strangers are visiting, as I said, in our current times you never know who comes on this island, or better said who manages to invade.

After the attack and after rebuilding the orphanage, we expanded it downwards, into the island, each room has a direct stairway that leads towards a secret underground hangar, which can be used as an Air-raid-shelter, where our Aircraft for emergencies lies.

It holds place for 20 persons of all sizes, so plenty of place for the 12 of us." Thea explained and I nodded, that was quite an ingenious plan.

"Ah it seems that they are still talking" Thea whispered as she stealthily walked to the door and eavesdropped.

I went along as I wanted to know what Red was speaking about with the Director when I wasn´t there.

" _It is important to know ones origins, however ..., Red, knowing about your past will definitely change you a lot, you will not be able to say that you are the same person you are right now._

 _Regaining all the memories of Red Savarin Wolvenra, Prince of tenn Moons might even go as far as to make Red ssvarin the hunter vanish, that must be clear to you._

 _Also knowing your past and origin will also mean that you will gain knowledge about all the things you have learend about the still ongoing conflict in this world and it will require from you to make a choice whether you sit back and watch the future as it unfolds, or if you take up actions to forge the future yourself._

 _Whatever you chose to do, be aware that becoming Prince once again will have a direct impact on the world, you will sooner or later be chased by Lycans henchmen, as you and your father are their biggest threat, sure you might get chased even without knowing your origins, but knowing them will not only make you more conscious about the importance of your survival but also the consequences if you would die._

 _All of what you will get to know, it will change your current world forever, it will give you access to knowledge yu hold, about magic, great power and skills, but also to the greatest of responsibilities you hold just by being alive._

 _Becoming the Prince of 10 moons again will show you how many people actually count on your future and how many lifes you have to defend, protect and lead on._

 _Also you will hold the very fate of the world in your hand, as one of the Lorekeepers of Shangri-La and the Free Regions, that much must be clear._

 _Some knowledge will be private to you for sure, but some will have lasting consequences on the world if it would ever be extracted, but to preserve these memories for the future within a mind is essential and beyond just important..._

 _Knowing that you will change in any possible way, that more than just one folk will depend on your survival and lead, and knowing that the knowledge you hold leads either to this world´s salvation or damnation..., are you still willing to get to know your past_?" The Director asked in a soft voice, as we opened the door carefully not to disturb them.

I honestly never saw Red thinking about something so hard, Elh had an expression that said the exact same.

Red held still for quite a while surely thinking about everything said, he looked up and looked up to everyone, Rose, the Director, Elh, even to me while I gave him a thumb-up.

Just as I had decided to remember everything, no matter how painful it might become, he should do so as well, even if just to honor and remember all those who sacrificed their lives for us.

" _I still intend to get my memories back, out of the selfish wish to know who I exactly am, even if the danger occurs that I will lose the self I am now._

 _However, as you said that this wisdom can change the world in some way, I see it as important then that this wisdom is not going to get lost, for when we need it but cannot use it, things might go far more downhill as when I know it and can try to counter our all demise._

 _Lycan will be after me either way, just as you said._

 _But I am willing to fight, willing to keep this world together, if it means I can save other people._

 _I don´t know if Lycan might manage to someday somehow extract this knowledge out of me, but before that happens, I will do my most to prepare against him and his kind, for the event that he would succeed in his plan._

 _I don´t know if the world is ready for me, but I am ready for the world that awaits me, maybe I change but as long as I don´t forget the things I know until now, I am sure I can bear it_." Red explained and Rose and the director nodded.

" _That explanation suits me, how about you_?" Rose asked.

" _A good answer indeed, very well, as it is your wish we both will now carry out the ritual to unseal the knowledge and memories, we had closed away and in addition we will try to put some spell around your consciousness._

 _It will keeps your mind from being infiltrated and informations and memories being extracted, mostly by other Magicians which specialize in that kind of complex magic, as soon when you get your memories back you will get to know the fact that Lycan is not even the peak of all evil in this world, but quite close to it, he´s not the only one who would do anything for power, that must be clear to you before you can go further on your Journey_." Rose explained and Red nodded with determination.

"Well, then, shall we begin?" The Director asked and we nodded.

"Then come with me, all of you!" The Director demanded, as she stood up to lead Red and the others somewhere, as if she knew we were there she looked at us and gestured us to come along.

She sure was a s sharp-minded as always, nothing ever got past her.

Once again we walked back to the Hallway from before into mine and Red´s Old Room.

"The recuperation of lost memories might last for a while, at least about 2-3 hours, it is easier if you lay down and take a good nap, then it does not put so much strain on your mind and body, how about it?" The director explained as she gestured over to the Bed.

To be honest, now that I saw the double-bed standing here in the room, I kind off got embarrassed, especially as Red already went to the bed and , after taking of his shoes simply laid down on it, a little reluctant and after a glance at Elh who urged me to go on, I went to the bed as well sat down took of my boots and laid down next to Red.

"Since the two have such a strong relationship to each other, the close contact to a familiar soul might be able to help you overcome the parts which will be scary to you." The Director explained as she gestured us to hold hands, making me and Red blush.

"Is that really necessary, I mean Red and Elh...?" I stammered but the Director nodded.

"Unless you want to go through your scariest experiences all alone, if you like we all can touch you as well, but I doubt me and the others would be able to stay here for 3 hours, at least I still got a lot of things to do around here.

Someone has to tell the children that it is safe around here, that they need not to be afraid of you guys and Thea has still a lot of other things to do, also is this room too cramped for so many people!" The Director stated.

"I see, well I think the closest to their heart should stay here, which are the little Miss Melizee and the Young King White!" Father explained and Anastasia was about to protest.

"Let her first remember Anastasia, she won´t go away so easily anymore, we will have our time with her as a family, but for now, let her be with the ones she loves since so long." Father stated and my Sister nodded although quite reluctant.

"If that has been cleared out, I think it is time for you guys to remember, the spell will make you sleepy and once you awake, you will have everything you need to feel complete again." The Director explained and Red nodded.

" _I know how that feels_." He mumbled while I was a little afraid which made me gripping his hand stronger.

The last time I got a memory of my former past back left me with a splitting headache, a racing heart and a bath of cold sweat, not to mention one of the worst feelings ever.

"The memories will come back to you as if in a dream, but seeing them, remembering your time will change you in an irreparable way, whoever you have been before, once you regain everything you will be a different being, different to who you have been and you will have to choose, if you can still continue the life you lived or if you will sacrifice it for something bigger than that." Rose stated and we nodded.

"One thing is for sure, as long as you guys have known each other am I certain that even if you one day decide to part your ways, your life will eventually join together once more someday, you have a destiny which binds you kids together strongly, to survive in this world, just like once the Ancients." The Director explained as she gestured to me and Red to close our eyes.

"I accept that, I always knew there was more to me than just a simple hunter." Red boasted loudly and I could hear the mock in his voice, how it drowned the doubt and fear in his heart.

"I accept these conditions as well..., I lived as Chocolat Gelato long enough, it is time to find out the truth, to get to know my own self and to face my past and my fears." I explained aloud as well.

"We will be with you, throughout the way:" I head two voice stating in unison, Elh and White of course.

"Then let´s begin, Ladies First, Chocolat, relax and take a deep breath, Rose, whenever you are ready." The Director stated.

"Of course..., you are ready Chocolat?" She asked and I nodded after calming down, feeling both, the heat of Red´s strong and comforting grip and the careful and gentle touch of White´s hand on my other hand.

" _ **Iuri ore comen kiueria, Kiueria memoresta chaniestor.**_

 _ **Kiueria drehas, savur vores tori, chanies et wegaros eta reflaxio eta namor.**_

 _ **Roseralos marimus narum aries gethra, darun gethra aron, delcras darun feravente daruna arik.**_

 _ **Acerif darun shiccsel-oft, acerif darun vahe aron acen.**_

( _I am the one who holds the key, the key to unchain the memories._

 _A Key to turn, a door to open, set free the path to the mirror of the soul._

 _Look inside for all the hidden things, the things you have lost, on that you can find yourself once more._

 _Become who you are destined to be, become who you have forgotten to be)_!" I heard the Director and Rose´s voice chanting in perfect sync.

Suddenly there was a strange feeling creeping into me, I felt as though my body began to heat up and I felt how my mind became hazier, it was though not an uncomfortable feeling but I did tense up a little bit as I felt how I got sleepier and sleepier even yawning.

I barely heard that the incantation was spoken over Red, as I began to doze off rather quickly, the last ting I heard was that the door was opened and closed most likely the Director and Rose walking out, I could still feel the warmth of Red and Whites hands.

"I would have never guessed that the two of us would ever share one bed again, after all what happened between us..., Chocolat, before we change, I want to tell you that I never once really regretted to have you as my sister, you have been the best little sister, which a big brother could ever wish for." I heard Red mumbling drowsily.

"Likewise, I don´t know where I would be now without you at my side, you were my light in darkest night, whenever I was afraid you gave me courage, I am really grateful to have been able to call you my big Brother." I replied to him as best as I could.

" _Chocolat /Red, you are great..., thank you very much_." We stated in drowsy unison, before I felt how darkness surrounded me, more than before and without even knowing, I was fast asleep.

 _ **To be continued...**_

 _ **A/N: The newest Chapter is done, I hope you have had a great time reading, forgive all my mistakes, once I have reread it again, I hopefully have fixed almost all of them.**_

 _ **The reading off this story is quite Crucial to get certain details for the future story and the not so far away events which are soon coming up, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and that we see each other again.**_

 _ **Yours truly, the storyteller and his books.**_


	3. The House of Memories III, Remembering

**空とロマンス**

 **Sola to Romansu (Sky and Romance)**

 **Important side-stories**

 **Book 1:** **The House of Memories / Part 3**

 _ **A/N: Warning! Long-ass Chapter ahead, you have been warned.**_

 _ **Darven Islands, Savarin Orphanage, In Red´s Memories.**_

 _ **Red´s Pov:**_

My dive through my memories was different than the times before, maybe because I finally got all my memories back, everything I ever had lost in my live was returned to me.

This time it more resembled a walk through an Art Gallery, only that the pieces of art each showed an aspect of my former life, once again brought back to life on the canvas.

Some memories I knew as I had seen them before, but there were many more I hadn´t yet witnessed, or even continuations of some memories I had seen before.

The first picture I dived into, showed two silhouettes on the balcony of a tower, looking over a town, maybe I remembered it because of the view I often had whenever Elh and I were looking in the vastness of the sky.

It was the memory of how _my younger self, of 7 years,_ confessed his love towards Helena 2 years after I entered elementary School, a few days after the incident on that Park-bench.

It also was about the second Kiss we shared and which was the beginning of a relationship we had for 1 year only, before she died.

Ever since I remembered her, I wondered what might have happened to us, Chocolat, and Elh and all of my friends, if Helena never died, and I would have never left Shangri-La...

Would the Shepherd republic have been destroyed by Lares and Lemures?

What about Elh..., what about Chocolat and all the others..., would they be who they are today..., would they have survived the incident with Bruno and Baion, the attacks of Blank and Nero..., was I really crucial for all of the event´s that had happened?

 _ **Flashback, Monument Hill on Shangri-La, 12 years ago, Red´s Pov:**_

It was field day, the day we all loved, as it meant not to sit 8 hours long in a boring classroom, listening to boring lessons.

Whenever there was a field day, things were bound to get interesting.

"So..., what you gonna do about it Red?" Haxel asked upon the news she had just told me.

"If she wishes for it then who am I to disturb her decision?" I asked unsure what to feel.

"Is that what you honestly think..., that she would be better of with Byson, that guy is a literal jerk, you are a far better match for Helena and you know it." Haxel exclaimed in frustration.

"Yeah but Helena told him already, that she would give him his answer tomorrow, if she would not like him or even consider to be with him, then why hasn´t she shot him off instantly?" I asked.

"Dude are you really that dense, its obvious why she did it...!" Kangonas explained while I only looked confused.

We were sitting in the noon-break of our field trip to the outskirts of Shangri-La, watching and learning about the Landscapes around Moonstone.

After the break we had art-classes and we were to draw a piece of the Landscape up here and the best one would win a prize.

But I was unable to think about that now, as the news I just got in, shocked me to the core.

 _ **Byson Taurin**_ , _**Taurhiza-boy and one of the Class-bullies**_ , had the hots for Helena, with whom he had grown up with.

Of course, this news made me a little despairing, I wasn´t nearly as strong as Byson nor could I fight well, if anything, all I had were my looks, minus the nasty scar on my snout, and the fact that I was Prince Red, my father was King Maranell, the ruler of Shangri-La...

But I knew, that in terms of love and other feelings, a title had absolutely no weight whatsoever, not that I would ever use my title for something so selfish.

I liked Helena, a lot, she was not only smart and friendly but also quite compassionate and really diligent, in everything she made.

If she herself decided to be with Byson then so be it..., of course I was sad about the prospect of losing her to that guy, but who was I to force my own feelings upon her.

What if she never even looked at me that way, that one thing a few days could have mean nothing to her than a simple gesture of gratitude..., telling her then how I would feel, would only make things more awkward between us, that I am sure of...

"So what do you think is going on in her head...?" I asked Kangonas still not understanding what he meant.

"Man, you are really dense..., she likes you Red, that is beyond obvious, she told Byson to wait for her answer, but in the meantime told her friends, under them Haxel, about it..., why do you think she did that...?" Kangonas asked but I still don´t get it.

"Oh geez, Red..., its obviously because she knew that Haxel would instantly go and tell you..., that sly little kitten is waiting to see your reaction about it..., what do you think she would feel if you just give up on her now, because of that.

Girls love guys who can fight for them, who defend them and who won´t give up until they ensure their happiness, so do just that Red, don´t give up on your own feelings, just because of such a small hindrance like Byson Taurin.

You need to show her that you are a far better match for her, that at your side she can become happy.

So by all means go for it." Kangonas stated and I was buff, similar to Haxel.

"That was..., surprisingly smart of you, Kangonas." The same stated.

"I just can´t take it anymore, that´s it..., all this wobbling around each other, as if you constantly walk on a tightrope..., its going on my nerves so damn much..., You love Helena..., and it is obviously that she has quite a thing for you..., so what are you waiting for dude, go and get her, make her yours and make her happy, for god´s sake." Kangonas explained and somehow it really boosted my confidence.

"Yeah..., maybe you are right..., what do I have to lose but my face, I doubt she would just end our friendship because of that, if things go wrong." I stated with new found confidence.

"I think you should let her know how you feel as fast as possible, so go over towards her, she is currently alone over there near the cliffs..., go get her tiger." Kangonas replied laughing, as he hit my back with his bare hand.

"I´m a dog though." I retorted but stood up anyways, taking my lunch-box and my schoolbag and made my way over to the cliff where Helena sat and ate in quiet solitude.

She told our teacher, Lady Burmilla, that she wanted to find the perfect angle for her later drawing, whatever she meant with that.

"H-hey Helena..., w-would you m-mind if I sit n-n..., I mean, here?" I asked her, as she looked up.

Dammit, I stuttered as if I was drunk..., it was not the first time I talked to her, so why was I now so nervous?

"Sure, be my guest..., I would love to have a little company." She stated with a bright smile, as she gestured to the spot next to her.

"Well then, pardon me, just invading the space next to you." I replied and she giggled cutely, making me blushing.

"S-so..., you going to draw the castle I guess?" I asked the obvious as I looked at the canvas, standing there ready to be worked on.

"Indeed, I like the view from up here..., still I fear there is something missing, I just cannot put it in words, nor am I sure what it is, but I am sure, once I start drawing, I will surely know it." Helena replied with her eyes shining.

"You really seem to like drawing." I stated and she nodded.

"I like to sketch things on a blog, it helps me for my wish to become a Royal engineer." She explained.

"Wow..., you want to become a Royal Engineer, that some high-classes you will have to take there..., but as smart as you are, I am sure you can do it..., once you put your mind behind something you can do anything." I stated in honest awe, Lady Seraphina was a Royal Engineer and she always said that just becoming a normal Engineer was already difficult.

A Royal Engineer was directly contracted to the King himself and was to work on special vehicles, like the Royal airship, and the Kingdom´s Weaponry and overall technology of Shangri-La.

They had to learn the triangular relationship between Energy, Machine, as well as Magic.

A royal Engineer was the highest post, which someone, with a love for all things technological, could achieve.

As I looked at Helena after hearing this, I could see her blush deeply.

"I´m not that great, just a nerd who reads a lot." She stated with a cute smile.

"Of course, you are great, I still struggle with many things Lady Million tells us nowadays and I mean we are but only in the second grade, I bet once we learn about higher technological stuff, I will be completely lost...

I would love it, if I could then depend on your kindness, to teach me the ropes, since I know that otherwise I definitely will go under, if I have to figure all of that out by myself..., of course not for free, mind you...

What I mean to say is..., that if you have achieved something you have worked hard for, then do not be so humble about it, you can definitely brag a little about it.

 _Also..., nerds are cute_." I mumbled that last part, as I looked aside, but still caught how she blushed.

I hadn´t forgotten the kiss she gave me a while ago, as I met her on that bench in the park and she told me about her family and how I had helped her with the medicine, which she needed for her grandmother.

"That kinda makes me happy to hear." She stated softly still blushing.

"So..., I don´t want ot be nosy and I don´t want to influence your decisions,,, but I heard Byson has asked you out?" I asked, trying to sound casual but even I could tell that that failed badly.

"Indeed he has..., still I don´t kno if I should give in to his offe ror not I mean I do would like to be closer to someone but am I really ready for a boyfriend yet..., and even if, will Byson even be the right one..., what do you think?" She asked and I could really bite myself in the butt, why did I even mention that theme in the first place.

How am I suppose to give a neutral answer now?

"I..., uhm..., well honestly said..., I am a little conflicted about it, I mean Byson has not the best of reputations..., I cannot tell what makes him so aggressive at times and if he not has a better side on him somewhere...

I don´t have that much to do with him..., I could of course tell you now not to go for it..., but I think you should decide, in a way, your heart and mind can come up with the best of compromises.

Maybe you will be the girl to change him, to make him a better person than the one he is..., I don´t know if that helps you in anyways?" I replied.

"No, this has been just what I needed to know, thanks a lot." She stated with a mysterious glance which was hard to describe, it was neither a frown nor a smile, it was by all means neutral..., as if she was lost in thoughts.

"Alright you Children, break is over, now we get to the creative part of the day, so take out pencils and brushes, colors and your imagination and draw the sight you want to preserve on canvas, the way you see it.

You have until the start of the last class, then we will look for which Picture is the best!" Lady Burmilla exclaimed loudly, gaining our attention.

"Well it seems as though chatting is over, let´s get to work..., so what are you going to draw?" Helena asked me, her mood indifferent as to the begin of our conversation earlier, not indicating if my answer displeased her or not.

"I guess I will take the castle as well, I bet many of the others will take on the landscape around us, as it is easier to draw." I replied and she nodded.

"I see..., then..., could you stand a little to the front of me, I want to keep my drawing a secret before the reveal later." Helena stated and I nodded.

I placed myself to the right of the cliff to give her an open view on the castle.

"That's right you can stay there, thank you Red!" Helena stated and I gave her a thumbs-up.

The drawing lesson was absolved in silence, it was not just a means of getting the class to use their minds and think for themselves for a while, rather than quietly listening to what the teacher says, but it was also to teach us a little about artistical sensitiveness.

To teach us how to put the reality we see on canvas or paper..., for someone who wanted to become an engineer, like Helena, having near-perfect Sketching-skills is crucial..., especially when you need to make a sketch of important machines, components and the like for blue-prints, your drawing has to be as accurate as possible to the thing you want to build and construct.

Same as the work of an Architect, you could even go as far as to say, that an Engineer was at times an Architect of Machines and Technology.

Without a good plan on how things shall look, an Engineer would never know how to build something let alone make something work.

I tried my best to draw as accurate as I could, but I bet others did a way better job than me.

" _Well..., I guess this is about right..., even if it is far from being perfect_." I muttered as the raw Sketch was done all I had to do was to paint it in color.

"Looking good Red, it´s plenty to see, that you really made an effort this time." Lady Burmilla´s voice stated from behind me.

"Thanks a lot, Lady Burmilla." I replied blushing.

She can be nagging too much at times, but it was undeniable that she was a good teacher and I held her in high regard for that.

Her lessons were always easy to understand and to follow and the way she taught us was never boring, in contrast to some of the other Teachers of the obligatory classes.

3 years of Elementary school where we are taught the basics of common knowledge, the advanced courses then start from the 4th Grade to the 11th Grade, 7 years long, apart from _**the special courses**_ , which we will attend coming next year.

By that time I will have to choose _**one of the Houses of the Ivory Castle**_ and that got me worried a little.

"Say Helena...!" I addressed the Girl behind me a little more loudly.

" Yeah, what is it?" She replied.

"I was wondering..., coming next year..., will you attend _**Platinum**_ or do you have another choice!" I asked her and to my surprise she was in thought, longer than I anticipated she would be.

I definitely believed she had already made her choice..., guess I was wrong.

"Hmm, it is difficult to say..., I was wondering about that myself..., I´m currently still torn between Platinum, _**Azure and Marble**_...

One each of these houses has it´s pro and contra.

In Platinum I will learn anything about technology and magic-engineering, it would help me much, as I could be a help to mother and do something directly for the Kingdom, for you and your family." She explained and I blushed remembering our conversation a few days ago in that park.

"In Marble I would get to know about all kinds of Medical treatments, herbalism and Potion-creation, as well as magical-healing arts, it could prove helpful if I had to heal someone, that would let me help even more directly, also I might find a cure for Grandmother´s sickness." She explained and it did made sense that that course would be tempting for her as well.

"And lastly, Azure..., I love books you know that much and it am really interested in the stories of the past, but then again..., to preserve the present and future history is also a noble work.

Honestly, I don´t really know what to do... how about you?" She asked.

"Well my father suggested to me that I should enter Gold, as it is the Class of Royal education after all..., but i´m unsure what to even learn specific..., then again gold teaches aspects of all the other houses as well...

So maybe..., yeah, actually why not..., how about you enter Gold as well Helena, then you will be able to have all three of your favorite houses in one, plus we could study things together, I could help you in things you lack and vise versa..., what do you think?" I asked and although it sounded like a casual suggestion was also a little hope inside of it, it would be great to attend classes with her for 7 more years.

"Hmm, that´s actually not a bad Idea..., I guess I could..., let me think about it for a while okay." She stated, once again smiling, not indicated if she would appreciate it or not.

"Alright Children time is up, please give me your drawings, once they have dried, you have half an hour of break, then we will chose the winner of the day!" Lady Burmilla explained and we nodded.

I went to give my Sketch off to our teacher before I went to Haxel and Kangonas a si saw Helena walking to her friends.

"So, how did it go?" Kangonas instantly asked.

"Well I told her my honest opinion to it and she considered to think about it, we spoke a little with each other and then I came back here." I replied and I saw his face falling.

"So..., did you now confessed your love to her or not?" He asked frowning and I blushed deep red.

"Of course not, how could I..., Byson just did it..., if I would now do it too, it would look as if I am competing with Byson for Helena´s love.

One shall never make the woman you love a price in a competition, that´s what Rose said.

The Woman I love will be treated like a queen by me and nothing less." I explained.

"Dammit." Kangonas cursed while Haxel snickered with a smug grin.

"That means you owe me an all-inclusive day at the cinema, my dear." Haxel stated with that omnipresent smug smile on her face, as she nudged her elbow in Kangona´s side teasingly, while the same glared at me in bitterness.

" _Thanks a lot, you traitor_." He muttered sourly, while I sweatdropped.

He knew not to bet with Haxel on things, if it came to me doing stuff, she knew me almost too well.

" _I hold such high expectations of you, but you betray me every time_." He mumbled and I put a hand on his shoulder.

"Mate..., you should know better, than to bet on me in such cases." I replied and he nodded defeated.

The next few minutes we talked and laughed about Kangona´s attempts to draw the castle, which failed twice before he just decided to make a last minute sketch of the sky, before Lady Burmilla told us to gather together to choose the best picture.

I had to say that some where good and others were a little too simple for my taste, not that I would have done much better.

"The next Picture if of Red, here we can clearly see a nice sketch of the Castle with the sun next to it and many clouds filling the sky, it is quite a nice picture if I may say so..., so tell me how do you thought.

Hands up for who things this should be our winner?" Lady Burmilla asked and I saw how Kangonas and Haxel raised their hands..., I looked to see who else and was a little surprised to see Helena as well, among some of her friends.

Byson of course simply glared at me, keeping his hands tight in his pockets.

"Alright, well onwards to the Last Picture, this ones is from Helena, so tell me Children, might this be your winner?" Lady Burmilla stated as she showed the pcture and an astounded murmuring went through the class.

This sharp lines and curves, the perfect forms and colour schemes, a perfect sketch of a part of the cliff with the Castle in the back, the vastness of the Sky behind it was really alive, the sun actually looked like a sun, much different than the yellow dots on some of the other drawings.

But what caught my eye instantly was the little silhouette standing on the cliff, most definitely drawing the castle, now I knew why she told me to stay infront of her while drawing.

It was incredible to say the least and obviously all eyes wandered from Helena over to me, especially Byson´s glare at me got a lot more intense, a fact most definitely not for the better though.

My hand jumped in the air before everyone else´s, not to mention that after nearly a minute of being revealed, the rest of the class raised their hands as well.

"I guess that says it clearly..., which makes Helena the winner of our little competition, as a prize you gain these self-backed cookies which I had backed yesterday, you can enjoy them alone or with your family and friends.

Congratulation, Helena." Lady Burmilla stated excitedly, while she applauded along to us.

Still, I heard some disappointed voices here and there, as Lady Burmilla was famous in the school for her homemade cookies and Kangonas, Haxel and I had the privilege to eat them more often than others.

Speaking of them both, their smug grins were worth to be carved in stone, from ear to ear the playful mock spoke out of their mimic.

The day got to an end with me having a warm and fuzzy feeling in my stomach.

The Picture was hung up in our classroom behind the showcase, across the school-board, Helena smiled the whole rest of the day long and before she went back home, she gave Haxel, Kangonas and myself each a cookie surprising me.

That night I went to bed with a certain hope which I had, ever since she stole my first kiss on that Park-bench.

The Day after Haxel had big News, after a little fight, initiated by him, Helena shot Byson´s love confession into the garbage bin.

It was literally the best morning I ever had and it got even better as she told me to meet her on the balcony of the west tower of the School-Quarter, which was accessible for the students when they needed some alone time.

There I took my entire courage together and confesses my love to her.

"I´ve been hoping that one day you would tell me this..., I feared that my kiss, a few days earlier might had been a little too forward and maybe had scared you off, you know." She stated as we stood up here, watching down onto the busy streets of Moonstone.

"Well it did come surprisingly, I admit that..., but ever since, I could not forget it and I wondered if you meant it only as a friendly gesture or if you truly meant it romantically...

I admit I panicked quite a bit, as I heard that Byson confessed his love to you." I explained and she giggled.

"Well that was the plan..., you know even without that fight earlier this morning, I would have refused Byson´s love, it is as you say, maybe there is something good on him somewhere, but his nasty characters unfortunately is a massive turn off for anyone..., unless he changes his ways, I doubt any girl in our class would truly consider to go out with him." Helena stated and it were some harsh yet true words.

"So am I correct in assuming that Haxel and Kangonas were fully involved in that plan?" I asked and she once again only smiled.

"Who knows, maybe they just figured things out themselves..., they are smart you know." She replied and I nodded.

"They sure can be." I replied as we laughed.

"Also..., considering your suggestion of entering the House Gold next Year, I think you are right with your reasons, I know that if I chose one House I will regret not to have chose the others so I guess taking them all under one hat is the best action to take." Helena explained and in my overjoy I embraced her strongly.

"Yaaahhooo, another 7 years with my Helena!" I shouted aloud not minding anyone who might hear us.

"Hehe, you sure are glad about that, did you feared I would say no?" She asked.

"Well I strongly hoped you would say yes, that´s for sure, but I would have also accepted it, if you would have chosen otherwise." I stated as I embraced her.

" Oh really, would you have done that?" She asked with a smile.

" Yes..., because I love you and respect your decisions." I replied and she nuzzled backwards in my chest.

"So..., whom shall we tell the good news first, your mother or my father?" I asked.

"You make me meet your parents at such a young age..., you are quite something my prince." She playfully mocked as she looked deep in my eyes.

"Well, I am Red Savarin Wolvenra after all." I stated, as I kissed her passionately on the lips.

We might be only 7 years old, but that didn´t mean we weren´t allowed to show our love in the most natural way.

 _ **Flashback End:**_

Yeah..., the question of what would have happened when, was a hard nut to crack, and yet there was one thing I definitely knew..., if nothing I encountered so far would have happened, then I would not be who I am today.

"It was most likely not for the best, all what had happened, at least not for me..., but it was most likely a necessity for the entire world.

I am sure that in the future I will have to make even more sacrifices to make a difference and stand between the continuation of Freedom and Peace and Lycan´s domination of the world.

Some things just had to happen I guess, as painful as they seem to me now, I was chosen to save the world and so I will live no matter the cost.

Some things are worth to experience and some things are painful, but they all are there to shape me to who I have to become, in order to save the world once more.

One of these things which had to happen, was the talk I had with Lady Seraphina about my mother, after overhearing Father and Shane speaking about Merveille.

The Questions I asked of why she was not up on Shangri-La with us, or why she never came to visit us.

A memory which must have happened a few moments before the funeral of Helena, before my Memories of everything were sealed.

I think I asked that question because I finally wanted to have a least one more truth told to me, to know if I was at least tolerated, by my mother in this world..., maybe even loved.

 _ **Flashback, 11 years ago, Royal Quarters, Chamber of the Prince, Red´s Pov:**_

I honestly had no idea how to feel anymore.

It was as though a world broke together for me.

Not the soothing voices of my friends, the comfort of my Father, not even the heartfelt embrace of Lady Burmilla could heal my broken heart.

" _What am I supposed to do without you Helena_?" I mumbled, sitting on my bed, hugging myself.

Thousands of thoughts raced through my mind, unable to form a clear picture of what the future would hold.

My first love, my dear Friend and partner in crime, she died before my very eyes, sacrificed her life for mine, killed by the man who I was created from.

An experiment, that was what I was, constructed for mass destruction, for executing the end of the world but deemed a failure and left to be disposed by one part of my parentage, Baion, the big bad End boss in all this, as it seemed.

However, my life was spared, only to be enhanced by my biological mother, Merveille Million, Seraphina´s little Sister, but I was taken away by Carmine and Rose to raise in an environment which was safe, away from the facility and eminent danger of Baion...

5 long years I managed to survive and live normal, but my past had come to haunt me and attacked my safe refugee as well as killing one of my most beloved.

" _Helena_." I muttered yet again, holding the heart-shaped necklace, with her initials in my hand, she had worn the other half of it, with my initials carved inside.

She wore it all the time and I loved the sight of it, as it meant that she had truly accepted to be mine, to love me as her boyfriend and maybe future husband.

I wanted to make her my queen..., but now, I think I never will be able to love someone, as much as I had loved her, and even if the near impossible case would appear that I do..., can I really just get over Helena..., I highly doubt that.

Right now, she was being cremated and soon a part of her Ashes would be strayed in the wind over the island, as it is tradition here in Shangri-La, while the other part was mostly buried, only a small part was used to create a so called _**Ashen-Crystal**_ _**in heart-shape**_.

It had become a quite romantic Symbol of undying love, to always keep a piece of a beloved person at one´s side.

Just as romantic this symbol was, did I wished I could find the right words to form a speech for Helena´s funeral, but I had always been bad with holding a prepared speech infront of the class, without just reading the whole thing aloud.

I guess I will just tell what comes to my mind once _**Lady Nil-Anuha, the High-Priestess of Shangri-La and last living member of the Jackal Clan,**_ would give the word to me.

"Knock, knock!" Suddenly a soft thumping was to hear from outside the door.

"My Prince, it´s me, Seraphina Million, you asked for me to come?" I heard the voice of the woman I wish to speak with.

"Please do enter." I stated clearly and a second later the door was opened.

The dignified and sometimes a little strict woman walked inside, closing the door behind her.

She wore the official uniform of the High-council of Shangri-La, she was a member of the 7 old Knight Clans, known as the Order of Seven, and although not a Knight herself, was she a Pioneer in everything Technological.

Not for the least was she a House-Master at the Academy, one of the Top Teachers there.

"Good Evening, Lady Million." I stated as she looked at me, I climbed of my bed and gestured her to sit on the table in the room, while I sat across her.

"I´ve been asking of you to visit me because I need to get to know something, a certain detail, before I do what I have decided to.

This conversation will be kept a secret between us and I will forget it anyways until the moment is right to remember, so please feel free to tell the truth, although I beg of you to do just that." I explained and she nodded.

I took of the medallion of my mother and showed her the photo inside, I instantly saw how she teared up.

"I haven´t seen her in nearly ten and a half years, ever since I was kidnapped alongside my Father and my older Sister by the Lycanians." She replied.

"Tell me about her, please, I want to know more about this woman who shall be my mother." I asked and she nodded.

"Merve..., that was our nickname for her..., she had always been a smart girl, just as we all were, Rosalia, myself and my mother Sorbet Cornet Million, one each of us loved technology and Mechanic.

While I was more interested in the Mechanic and Engineering itself, like our father, was Rosalia almost obsessed with ancient technology and the possibility of converting it into the technology of our current generation.

Merveille on the other hand was fascinated by Technology and Biology and how they were sometimes related, but she also found the innovations through the use of sun, wind and water as well as other elements, fascinating.

Our little family was a happy one, just your average neighborhood family..., well except of the circumstance that we owned several factories across the Republic which produced everyday Technology for the practical use in homes, like dishwashers, washing machines, irons and ironing boards and so on.

We were big in the game so to say.

Our mother was quite famous as an horologist and precision-mechanic, everywhere in the Republic the name million was known.

Everything was good and peaceful..., until the day as our mother vanished." Seraphina told me and her eyes spoke of a big sadness.

Merveille was but only 6 years old back then and she could not comprehend nor accept that from one day to another our mother was just gone, of course we searched for her, 5 long years we looked at every nook and cranny of the Republic expect for the dangerous areas such as Armenia and the Devil´s Throat." She stated.

"Devil´s throat, what´s that supposed to be?" I asked unsure I haven´t heard that name before.

"It is supposedly the place on which once Ragdoll was located before Baion apparently destroyed it..., although your father does not believe that assumption anymore, Baion might be strong but he had no force to destroy an entire island, especially not with thousands of Paladins and Guardians opposing him, that much was clear." She explained and I nodded, no sure what she meant with it.

"How did my mother met Baion?" I asked Seraphina.

"Unfortunately I have no knowledge about that, as 5 years after our mother Vanished, my Sister, my Father and myself were kidnapped as we were on the way home from a visit to a Factory in the west of the Republic.

Ever since, I haven´t seen Merveille in all this time until today, so I have unfortunately no idea what happened during this time." Seraphina truthfully answered.

"Why didn´t you ever visited her, I mean you do live since quite a while here on this Island, so why?" I asked her and she looked aside before sighing.

"Because of Baion and the Lycanians..., because I feared that me meeting up with Merveille might trigger some bad things to happen.

Back then as we were Kidnapped we were forced to build weapons and Giant magnets for the Lycanians, of course we wished to resist, but they threatened to kidnap and torture Merveille if we would not comply with their demands, but not only this..., they also had Mother in their claws.

It was irony as I always believe her to be dead, we all did, all but Merveille, she always was assuming that mom was still alive and kept somewhere by bad guys.

To my shame I always just thought of how stupid such a thought was, the simple fantasy of a frightened kid..., but now that the same had happened to me, I began to believe in it as well.

So we worked for them as best as we could, always fearing that a mistake might mean, that Merveille or mother would have to pay the price for it.

It wasn´t until I got aware of a certain detail in the messages, they showed me.

One constant detail which remained there over 2 years long every time, that's when I knew that the video-message was but a simple fake.

Which meant that either mom was already dead or she escaped them somehow.

3 years after my Kidnapping and my separation of my Sister and Father, I was freed from the factory I was trapped in by your Father, Shane and the others.

At first, I refused to follow them into freedom, because of my fear for Merveille´s wellbeing, but they assure me that Merveille was still well and alive in the Shepperd Republic, that's when I got to know that everything had been a lie by the Lycanians all along, and yet I understood that that lie could well become a devastating truth.

I explained all the things I had build for the Lycanians to the King and he offered me to help them in defeating the Lycanians with my knowledge.

That's how I ended up on Shangri-La

During that time you had already been born and brought up to this island, ever since I worked diligently to improve the technology in this place.

Still, I had to learn so many new things..., as I told you before was Rosalia more the ancient-technology-maniac, but here I had to firstly get an understanding of what magic even was and how it could be inserted into Technology and mechanic, for short, I had to learn about the Science of Magic-Engineering.

Since I always was a fast learned I made it up in the ranks in a breeze and before I though about it, ten and a half years had already past.

As promised by the King, I was hold up-to-date about what my little sister did all the time, all of her big achievements and everyday life, by a spy in the Republic, some woman called Julie Summers who worked at a coffee-shop in Spinon.

Several years after I arrived at this place, I got the message that the Facility in which Merveille and that Baion-guy had worked, was attacked by your father, at first I didn´t understand why he did not took Merveille with him back up here, hell I was even furious to say the least.

I accused him of playing a false game with me the entire time, just like the Lycanians..., I was really disrespectful, despite knowing nothing of the current situation my little sister was in

The King said that they still had not found Rosalia and my father and that they could not risk the Lycanians to find this place.

The King had an assumption that Baion, similar to Merveille might stand under observation and that he could not risk to rescue her until Rosalia and father were found and brought in safety, otherwise the Lycanians might decide to dispose of them, if they could no longer fool them.

If Merveille was to be saved, it had to be done simultaneously with Rosalia and Dad and maybe Mom, given the circumstance that she is even still alive.

It was certain that all of them were threatened the same way I was, and that they were maybe separated as well, who knows to which places we all had been brought to.

In that fact the King was right.

With Heavy heart I had to accept that it was yet not the right time for us to save Merveille, as long as she was yet not out of danger, especially after we found out about Baion doing evil things.

From Julie, which meanwhile had become quite a good friend of mine, I got to know that Merveille had contracted a Hunter, which happened to be an Paladin of Ragdoll, it was unclear of why, until Julie contacted us and gave us the Letter of Merveille in which she explained the details about Baion´s Plan she had found out.

Now I was really afraid of her wellbeing, if Baion would find out, she was as well as dead, I was seconds from hijacking an aircraft and get down myself.

Carmine and Rose as well as some others as backup went to investigate.

They returned, once again without Merveille, but with you and a bunch of new Informations.

She even gave us details about a Weapon Baion possessed, a semi-sentient Mecha called Berius with incredible firepower, which laid waste to the Island of Ragdoll a few centuries ago.

With the Knowledge of Berius and the Mechas build for your siblings Blank and Nero, we managed to construct a similar Mecha, which evolves with you, although the same is not yet finished.

It is partially based on ancient technology and although its operating system is still in the test-phase, if we manage to succeed, the same might soon be used in other Mechas as well.

Although I doubt that we can finish the program for the artificial Intelligence anymore, now that the main-developer behind it had died..." Seraphina explained as she looked at my half-heart necklace with just as much sorrow as when she spoke about her family.

"You mean Helena..., she was writing that program?" I asked dumbfounded, we only had begun to have Technological Classes since about 5 months, if that was true Helena was an even bigger genius than I har ever thought.

"Yes indeed, it was supposed to be a birthday present for you...

I miss her too my prince, she was like a daughter to me, the child I never had, I honestly never have met a similar young genius like her, well expect of Merveille, if they would have met, they would have surely become good friends and an even better team of brilliant minds together.

It is truly such a shame, but as they say, the good ones always die first, as sad as it is." Seraphina stated and I nodded.

"They sure do." I replied.

"And yet even the survivors aren´t always so happy, it is a surely a miracle that Baion hasn´t yet found Merveille, but due to that she had to remain in hiding, although, she does not really hide as she has entered the Kurvaz Militia, a guild consisting of several branches of offices and Agencies banded together, for the peace, innovation and overall defense of the entire Republic, she has become , similar like me up here, the Chief of developpment, still as holed up as she is in her Laboratory, she might be better defended as if she were out there on her own.

Also are there some of our Men who have infiltrated the Kurvaz, working as soldiers, engineers and in other positions..., mainly to gather intel about the course of history in the Republic and the Kurvaz Militia itself, as well as keeping Merveille safe so I am a little more calm about it, even though I do still worry about it." Seraphina explained to me.

"how so, I mean if our men are protecting her she should be safe enough..., or am I wrong?" I asked her.

"Indeed she might be safer than being on her own, but these Spies have only so much abilities and possibilities of acting, there are perhaps only 10 of them in the Kurvaz and the Kurvaz overall numbers is close to 1.000.

My fear and worry remains, mainly because the Kurvaz General, Bruno Dondurma, is in suspicion of having ties with a so called New-Moon Society.

A secret Organization of unknown purpose, which might be related towards the Lycanians, as of now we do not really have any concrete evidences though, but the suspicion is there.

Sigh, honestly I wonder if Merveille would have managed to stay out of trouble if I or Rosalia would have stayed behind on that day, if one of us was there, maybe she would have never been tempted in some way with helping that Baion in his experiments.

Whatever that guy promised her, it must have been enough for her, to throw almost all ethic overboard and do such an immoral feat as to play god and create life.

I bet he has played with her feelings of loneliness and desire of knowledge, what an evil man.

If father was with her for example..., maybe he could have prevented her from getting into such a shady organization like the Kurvaz.

Makes me wonder where Grandma and Grandpa are the whole time?" She stated massaging her temples.

"Is this Kurvaz Militia really that badß" I asked her but she only looked unsure.

"I can´t tell, although it directly concerns my sister have I not insight on all operations the Kingdom´s spies undertake, it is a wonder that I have gotten any information about this at all, but Julie has good ties to some of them, she also only tells me about Merveille and these operations do not truly interest me anyways.

Maybe some things of what the Kurvaz does are good, but I heard, that their methods are often quite questionable..., _just what are you trying to do Merveille, what has anyone promised you to go to such drastic methods_?" Seraphina muttered as she sat back and looked at the ceiling, her eyes spoke of sadness and worry.

"I hate it my Prince..., I hate the fact that I am powerless if it is about my own family, all I can do is sit here and worry about them, waiting for news and maybe for one of them to be found.

I feel like I´m a failure..., a failure as a sister.

But as long as Rosalia, Father and possibly also mother are still in the fangs of the Lycanians, I am unable to act myself without making things worse, your Father told me this in all clarity, as I was so disrespectful to him back then.

If what we assume of Bruno Dondurma is indeed true, then the Lycanians have their hand on the lever here, one false move of myself might kill Merveille and that knowledge makes me nuts." Seraphina explained as she slumped on the table while I put a hand on hers.

"Uncertainty is the killer of everything positive." I stated and she smiled, it was a phrase which Shane often used in class.

"Shane does say some smart things every now and then." She replied and I nodded.

"He sure does..., say, Lady Million...?"

"Just call me Seraphy, as you have always done so my prince, I don´t mind..., you might even call me _Aunt Seraphina_ if you like.

I once hated my full name, but after I was not called it for such a long time, only ever being called `hey´ or `you´ or even `bitch´, it was nice to hear it again, Shane was the first one to call me by my name after 3 years of captivity, he even complimented how beautiful it sounded.

I guess that was the moment I fell in love with him.

Heck I still remember how Merveille and I fought about that theme shortly before we went away on that day we vanished.

Men and future Husbands, a life for the future, not for the past.

I told her that she should stop chasing after mother as after 5 years of absence she was most possibly dead, I told her to get herself a future husband as fast as possible to start a family once she´s an adult.

I was so stupid, I was heartbroken to see how my little sister chased after the host of our mother who was missed for so long, devoting almost her entire life solely to the search for her, instead of truly living.

She even researched about plasma and plasma resistant alloy, only because she wanted to pierce the plasma Clouds of the Devil´s throat, so we could search in its innermost for my mother.

As I heard that I just got so angry..., who would have thought that a simple fight with my sister would haunt me for 3 years straight.

And even after all that time she still has no husband, although she seems to be always together with hat Young paladin...

Although..., to say he is young is relative, he might look like that but from what I have heard paladins can be decades old without their physical appearance changing all that much, similar to Wolven Paladins...

I mean look at your father, he must be over 10.000 years old and still he looks barely older than mid-60.

Geeez, before I met Shane I really though tthat I was unpopular with Guys, while Merve got all the attention, getting 5 marriage proposals per month, sometimes even per week, was it hard enough for me and Salia to find but one man to keep.

I tell you that was so unfair somehow..., well at least she can´t say that my talk did not helped." Aunt Seraphy explained and I nodded, not sure what to say t that.

Of course, I was glad if mom was happy..., but I bet I would have been gladder if she was here with me instead.

"Do you think..., mom would still love me..., after all this time?" I asked my Aunt.

"Oh I am sure she would..., she can be a little sarcastic and she does seem unapproachable at times..., but when she loves, she loves for real.

Carmine said that she truly teared up as she had to let you go, that she was shortly before refusing to herself to let you go, even though she knew it was perhaps your only chance of survival, it was as if the mother-feelings had hit her so hard in that one moment.

I don´t know what my sister has done to you, which hidden forces she has engraved in your DNA, or why, but she did it out of the conviction that you, once you have grown up and be able to use your forces, would be the only one to defeat Baion, to stop him from executing his wicked Plan.

As I said before, I cannot understand what Baion promised Merveille, for her to do something so irresponsible, as to experiment with DNA and Genetics after ancient Methods, and create your siblings, Nero and Blank.

The same that attacked our Island and killed so many of us.

But since she also managed to create you, my Nephew, I will forgive her, I´m sure she never though her children to be capable of such evil, nor, and that I am even more sure, did she ever wanted such a thing to happen.

She never struck me as a mad scientist you know and I know that despite of what she has done to you, she does have feelings for you.

My Sister might be many things, but she is definitely not heartless." Aunt Seraphina stated with outmost conviction and I nodded as I clutched the locket with Mom´s photo inside.

"I thank you for your kind words, I think I understand now a little more than before..., I hope that the next time we see each other, I will be able to say the same about your sister.

Who knows, maybe I one day meet my mother down in the Shepherd Republic, I will make sure to greet her from you when I remember everything..., I just hope she remembers me then at all." I stated.

"If the day comes that I have to fulfill my destiny, I hope she will help me taking Baion down, with all she can do for me." I stated looking at the moon hopefully.

"That I am sure about." Seraphina stated as she nodded, turning her head to the window as well.

"If she has done something wrong, she will be hell-bent on making it right again, whatever the cost, she might not be able to take action herself, but she will be a valuable support for your actions instead.

Such is the fate of us researchers of the Million Clan, who are unfit to become wielders of _**Armatura Impervius, the impenetrable fortress**_ , just like Grandfather Altor has explained." Seraphina continued and I nodded, recognizing the name of _**the Sword of the Million Clan**_ , one of the Order of Seven.

"Anyways I thank you for coming and telling me all this, I will no longer keep you of your work, we will see each other at the Funeral." I stated and she nodded.

"Of course my Prince, may the Light of 10 Moon guide you." Seraphina replied, saluting in the fashion of Shangri-La, before walking out of the room.

 _ **Flashback End:**_

To be honest I was a little shocked, I always thought that Bruno did all he had done out of his own volition, that he got so far because of his wit, to exhaust every loophole in the Law he could find...

However, to get told that there had been evidences and rumors that he had ties to the Lycanians...

It somehow seemed very possible and plausible..., if he indeed had, so many things would make a lot of sense.

For example, the question of how he even knew about Lares and Lemures in the first place, as it was secret and ancient knowledge, mostly exclusive to the Paladins of Ragdoll themselves.

I doubt you will find any book in the Republic which tells about it, at least Elh never mentioned it, and after all she roamed this Republic for 300 years.

But If Bruno had been ordered by the Lycanians of searching for these Weapons, to add them to their army, it makes a lot of sense..., maybe Bruno had Lycanian Blood in his veins, it would at least explain _**the monstrous creature**_ he had become after he fused with Lares, which looked far more like _**a giant three-headed Wolf**_ , than a Dog.

If that is all true, I wonder who else is a member to the New-Moon-Society, if there maybe more of them in the Kurvaz, it would be like the perfect breeding ground for raising their future Army.

Once I meet up with Opera the next time, I will have to ask her about that suspicion, and I hope she can give me some answers...

The dive through my memories was quite long and there was hardly an end in sight, but then again it was nice to get to know the good and the sorrowful memories as well as the bad ones.

But I was in awe of the amount of memories I had forgotten all this time and which I now witnessed from anew.

Some of these Memories were simple and irrelevant for the current situations we were in, but it was nice to remember them..., then there were the ones with the biggest pictures, which just screamed, `I am important, watch me, look at me, analyze me´.

One such was a memory from about 14 years ago as I was but 5 years old, I barely started going to school.

The Memory-painting showed myself and my father sitting in a comfy room, most likely one of his private offices in the Royal Quarters, infront of the chimney, snow was falling outside the window and it seemed that my father was about to tell me something, something quite important.

 _ **Flashback, 14 Years ago, Royal Quarters of the Ivory Castle, Red´s Pov:**_

I heard the noise of a fire crackling, the busy tripping of feet outside of the room.

I felt how is was cradled in someone's lap, how the heat in the room filled my heart and my belly.

I smelled gingerbread and other sugary treats, outside snow was falling, it was Winter and the people began to prepare the town for _**the Day of the Gift**_.

It was a special occasion in which you offer a gift to each of your friends and family members and get a gift back from them, all in order to celebrate family and the gesture of giving something to other, may it be a gift, comfort, love or other material and non-material things.

Although it was a little similar, was it just as different from _**the Day of the Family or the Day of the Lovers,**_ as the houses in town, as well as the streets, were richly and quite festively decorated.

Legends have it, that the Day of the Gift _**is a centuries old Tradition,**_ from long before the Era of the Belligerent States, just as the other two days and numerous others as well.

The fire was comforting and it seemed to me that I had dozed off for a while, as I opened my eyes to see, that I was sitting infront of an open Book.

" _Our world has so many Secrets, buried beneath memories and ancient artefacts._

 _If you find them, they just might have the answers you seeking, kept hidden for centuries, for the rightful ones to find them._

 _But beware, maybe our greed is our weakness at least so it is in some people, some knowledge can prove to be dangerous and some things are best left unknown._

 _As long as we don´t abuse our own freedom of exploring, for shady motives and to act upon our inner greed, we will live a peaceful life, persecuting the past..., cause in the end we must reap what we sow, if your actions unleash the evil that had been bound_." So it stood on the open Page.

"A warning I had written in this book ages ago." I heard a voice saying, old and gentle and filled with a warmth which was stronger than the warmth of the room.

I looked up to see a pair of gentle and old eyes looking at me, a smile on the lips of the man in whose lap I sat.

It was none other but my own father, Maranell Wolvenra, King of Shangri-La.

"It means that Books and scrolls hold many knowledge about our past, but some knowledge is hidden in the minds of old bloodlines, sometimes told verbally as a family secret nobody else knows, some of the wisdom goes lost, others is preserved until our times by ancient artefacts, magical and non-magical.

But that seeking such knowledge for evil purposes might destroy you, as ancient forces are hard to control, you can learn about them, you can analyze them and find ways to counter them, but you should know better than to try and Abuse them if you are not prepared for the consequences.

On my long travels in the past, I have unfortunately seen too many people trying to do just that..., and their failure often costed the lives of many innocents.

There are relics in our World which are just too powerfull and whose power should not ever be unleashed again.

A few such relics lie right beneath us, in the Shepherd Republic, your original Home, they are still hidden, but many are already on their tracks, it is bad if they succeed in their plans, but the Strongest and most Powerfull of them are being held under seals and defended by guardians.

And even if they were to be used again, am I sure that heroes will once again emerge out of the Crowd, to take up the fight against them, just as it has happened so often in olden times." Father explained to me with a gentle but also slightly worried glance.

But the prospect of mighty heroes had me lighten up my mind, I loved stories about heroes, more than anything.

"And one such hero will have to be you one day my dear Son..., what I tell you now is something you need to know which you shall never forget completely..., and yet I will see to seal the memories of it until the time is right, until you have proved to be a whole man and a suitable heir for the throne of Shangri-La.

So listen well Red Savarin Wolvenra." Father explained as he let me of his lap and kneeled down infront of me to be on eye level.

"Red, there will come a day that I am not longer, a day on which my forces will give in and on which yours will rise above all else, not to rule and conquer, but to protect and defend when all odds are standing against our folk and the freedom of this World.

I will tell you a story now, a story of who I am, what I was, what I am, and what one day, you will become as well." My father stated as he sat himself down on the carpet and gestured for me to do the same.

"Just let me seclude this room from the rest of the castle for a second." He stated as he closed his eyes, I could see how certain markings appeared on his hands which glowed up, a wave of bluish light flowed out of him enveloping the entire Room, stopping infront of the walls the windows and the doors in this room.

"Now no one will hear, see nor disturb us for these memories, this story I am telling you now, is only meant for you." Father stated before he recognized my fascinated look as I glanced at the markings which faded from his hand.

"Interesting right, as _**the Nono**_ which come from within us and _**is forged by the mind**_ , _**the Rano**_ which comes from around us, _**is given shape with our hands.**_

If you combine both you create the force of Ranono, those who can masterfully skill this, _**will be able to possess the power to make an entire land kneel to them, or defeat a foe who uses the force of certain 10 ancient artefacts together.**_

But to master it requires _**ages of extensive training and a deep understanding of the fundamental laws of our world**_ , you must understand _**what our world is and how it actually works**_ , only then you will be able to change it to your image, as far as you _**administrative rights**_ go." Father explained as he stood up and went to the window.

I followed him looking out of it, down to the snow-covered yard where I could see many dots moving around, most likely older students of the Wolpalaca, as the higher school was over by now.

"You will surely learn much about the arts of Magic in your future Royal classes at the Academy, _**intensively from the second year of Academy on**_.

In the first year you will learn _**more of the basic stuff**_ ,which is _**also taught**_ _**in the other Classes**_.

However, for now you should aim to do well in the _**3 years of Elementary school**_.

Attending _**the Academy**_ , _**once you turn 8 years old**_ , will give you all the basic knowledge you need, to become a worthy King-Candidate, as you need to know what a true king is all by yourself.

For there are things in this world no class and no teacher can teach you.

Also are there yet Two others Candidates in this World, _ **suited and worthy, to either become a King or a Queen for Lunaris**_ , _**who too bear the Blood of Wolvenra**_...

However, as _**the Moon-throne does not choose between good and evil**_ , even if _**in my opinion not worthy or even tolerable and yet of the same blood as myself**_ , the throne might chose _**one of these others**_ as well...

The one to sit on the throne, will either lead to the salvation of the world, or to its downfall.

Anyways back to the story I wanted to tell you..." Father explained as he looked at me.

"All good stories begin with a `Once upon a time´..."

 _ **Flashback, over 13.000 years ago, at B.E.R.F.A, Maranell´s Pov:**_

 _ **Bio-Engineering Research Facility of Armenia,**_ or short B.E.R.F.A.

A dreaded place in the cold Tundra of Armenia.

Ever since the Wars had broken out several centuries ago, this place was filled with darkness, ice cold temperature and the dreadful atmosphere of death and despair.

I was born here..., but not as you might think into a loving family.

No it was more accurate to say that I was created here, one of hundreds of Children, created for but one purpose..., as weapons, weapons to fight in wars, to fight in place of the soldiers under the rule of _**Anubis Sarcophagus, King of all the Canidae-tribes**_.

In collaboration with _**the Kumear Tyrant, Donduros Bearfrost, who held the iron rule over Lofisheim**_ since 2 decades alreadyand _**the Batmori Warlord, Calypsor the Reaper, Leader of Necropolis**_ , Anubis had united a massive Army to use against _**the Felidae King Taniel, the Sabretooth Tiger**_.

However, King Taniel had the collaboration of _**the Elephzō Kingdom, Serengetia and the Girafu (Giraffe /Jirafu) Kingdom, Dorimanjaro,**_ as well as some of _**the lesser Beast-tribes of the Savahara, the Land of Deserts and Green plains,**_ on his side.

Through this, his army still vastly outnumbered the collaborated army of _**the three Kings of Alasokia**_ , whose partnership was already far stretched as well as unsteady anyway.

It was a shame that the fighting had already bordered in the collapsing of _**the tectonically borders of Elysia, the once massive Super-continent,**_ broke apart, as _**the Old land of Elysia, home of the Elyan, the Dragon-people**_ , was ripped out of the middle of the Continent, set afloat on the back of the Giant Sky Whale Sumear and flew up high in the sky, never to be seen again.

In the following millennia of warmongery and global misery, the Super-Continent broke apart and was divided in many Continents.

 _ **Alasokia**_ , _**Continent of Ice, Rock and clear starlit Skies to the north**_ , which was home to the Canidae Tribes, the Batmoris, the Kumears and some other Beast-Kind Races, who had lost most of their people during the wars and remained with no such numbers as to form a new Kingdom of their own, without inevitably being dragged into the war.

 _ **Savahara**_ , Continent of Deserts, giant plains of rich greenery and Home of the Felidae tribes, the Elephzō Kingdom and the Girafu Kingdoms as well as other Beast-Kind races that could live in the warm climate.

 _ **Terra Verte**_ , Continent of the Giant Forest and vast green plains, home of many different Races even of the Felidae and the Canidae, a refugium for all those who hid from the War.

 _ **The Roselta Region**_ , _**a massive cluster of floating Islands**_ , tied together by large land-bridges, home to various other Beast-Kind Races which secluded themselves completely from the War and only attacked when attacked themselves.

 _ **Nautilus**_ , _**the giant sea in the Sky**_ , only held together due to a gigantic Mountain range that runs all around the entire sea enclosing it into the Sky, it was home to most of the Maritime Races such as _**the Dolphuka, (Dolphin / Iruka) the Orcachi (Orca / Shachi)**_ , _**the**_ _**Shamerk (Shark / Same)**_ and _**some of the Amphibian Races**_ and some of the other races that Fled the lands once the Wars started.

If there was war on just one Continent it was worse enough, but war on two was of a cataclysmic level no one had ever expected, and that the wars lasted for 3.000 years already, surely no one had ever anticipated.

The worst however was the fact, that there was no end in sight.

Anubis's best man, General Fenrir Wolfenstein was in charge of a new Project to increase their army and fighting power, to end the wars in their favor.

And that's where we came into the game, as part of _**the Super-Soldier Project**_ , we were created with Transgenic genetics, out of DNA of several Beast-Kind-Races, to find the best possible combination of creating hybrids and chimeras.

I was called _**Experiment**_ _ **#**_ _ **101 of the Lupycan-series,**_ born out of the Genes of a Rhinosai and a Lupycan, but different to most of my conspecific had I no traits of a Rhinosai expect of the raw strength and physical resistance.

Needless to say, that not many of us survived the first few years.

Most of us didn´t got older than 15, only a few expectations managed to get over 20.

Then there were also those who did survived but never were the same..., and those who completely lost themselves, physical as mental.

Abominations, known as _**the Night-Plague**_ , the infamous name which brought fear into every single one of us.

Hold in a separated high security area of the Facility, these beasts were the end result out of failed Hybrid-experimentations, those who were rendered unusable through the experiments were infused with _**a certain Liquid**_ , known as _**Devil´s Blood**_ , no one knew what it was, but the effects were gruesome.

I only once saw it, as they used it on the cell across ours, I don´t want to remember how that boy suffered for days, but at the end he was not to recognize anymore and he tried to attack the security personal with savage brutality, only to be put asleep with gas and other chemicals and dragged away into that secluded area.

It was a common threat to us, by the Security Guards and Researchers.

If you do not obey the rules and work hard, you will become a Ghoul.

That was the degrading name the Adults used for those turned into members of the Night-Plague.

And thus, our days were filled with fighting other children to the death and following orders, we were barely taught how to speak or to write, or anything fundamentally at all.

If we wanted to learn we had to do so for ourselves, but most of us only vegetated in their cells or sat in a corner mumbling whatever they knew, over and over again, to somehow not go insane in this place.

I was one of those who tried to learn as much as possible, in the little free-time we had, apart from killing and fighting to the death, by listening and remembering, what the adults were saying.

It was a means for me to stay alive, I wasn´t the most skilled fighter, I just learned to survive as long as I could before I had to kill myself.

Sometimes they send us in an arena which got smaller by the minutes until there was no chance or space to flee anymore.

I guess the reason that I was left alive at all was because I came victories out of every such Battle royal.

I wanted to live, that was the only reason I did what I had to do, even when unwilling.

Either you refused to kill and you were killed instead, or you killed just so could stay alive, but then there were also such kids who loved to kill, who got addicted to murdering others over the time they spent here.

One such was of the neighboring cells, _**my experimental brother, Ferros**_ , before he was called that, he too was but a number of many, same as all of us.

We were siblings, since _**we were created with the same Lupycan genes**_ , _**Fenrir Wolfenstein´s genes**_.

I honestly feared Ferros, I always hope that I would not had to fight him and until now I haven´t yet, but I think, as I was famous not to die in my battles, he was eager to kill me.

I was in here since about 8 years, either I died early or I survived until I was 20 and died then.

Still, I never gave up my one hope, to someday see the light of the sun, to escape this place somehow...

I kept having dreams of places far way from here, events that took place somewhere else, voices talking to me, telling me that I was chosen for something different, for something great.

But I was just ordinary in this place, one of 6 remaining Lupycan Hybrids, which were held in two cells.

Ferros and my Brother, later named Genma, stayed in one Cell with some others, under them also some Felidae-Hybrids, later called Shiro, Hanzo, Zora and Arcana.

I was in one cell with my brothers and sisters Marikos, Ciarella, Panmora and some other Hybrids of different races.

The cells were divided in several blocks and it was always Block against Block, rarely two cells of one block had to fight against each other, but it occasionally happened.

It was during one such fight as I finally found a way to escape.

I had planned this for months, told no one, it came to everyone as a surprise.

We were just at killing each other as suddenly a Fire broke out near the secluded Area, which let a tank of gas explode, blowing a hole in the security gate that held back the Ghouls, letting them escape.

By that time, I grabbed the hands of Panmora and Arcana and told them to grab a hold of the others.

Suddenly the ground under us was opened, it was a mechanism with which they usually got rid of the corpses in the arena, it managed to get us in the unsecured lower level of the Facility.

That when I revealed my plan to them, which got them looking quite dumbfounded for a while.

As I had helped my inmates to understand basic Dialogues, they knew what I was up to and Shiro and his mates got the gist of what I was explaining from the few words they knew.

31 of us would escape.

But 2 of them weren't sure about it, Ferros and Genma.

Ferros was plain against leaving, he wanted to fight and to kill and it was evident that he tried to provoke a fight with the others now, despite not even having a weapon at hand.

Genma on the other hand was not sure if he wanted to stay or go, as he constantly fought to survive, he was almost as often in the Arena as Ferros and he had killed on numerous occasions, far more than even I did.

He was not sure if he could stop killing even if he wanted to, too long he had done so and he was shortly before falling into an addiction of seeking fighting and bloodshed, the fact that he always had seemed so calm made it even more dangerous.

10 years long he was used as a mere weapon, he, as a Lupycan-Repturui Hybrid, had an amazing resistance against elements, he was fireproof, could remain for hours underwater, he was physically as hard and robust as a rock.

However, he was also quite aggressive when fighting due to what he was, Repturuis were fierce in battle and couldn´t handle it when they were mocked and insulted, to ignite the wrath of a Repturui was the worst one could do.

Genma was one of the few that had already fought in the wars outside of the facility and he therefore feared the world as he mentioned that some lands might wanted to get their revenge on _**the Dragonwolf,**_ as he was called.

In the end as me and the others wanted to move on to escape, a fight broke out between me and Ferros, who was close to sabotage our escape plan due to wanting to stay, none of us could defeat the other one, but we did not had to as suddenly the ghouls, who had managed to get on the lower levels before we could make it out of there, hunted us down and were ready to kill us.

As Ferros tried to Kill Ciarella by sacrificing her to get the ghouls of his track, I pushed him backwards and shielded Her from the beat of the ghouls, which ripped up my Back, leaving a nasty bleeding scar.

Ferros stumbled back and was hit by the claw of a ghoul right across the face losing an Eye, the hatred in his remaining eye directed to me, was burning and full of malice.

He swore bitter revenge, as he stumbled away, as suddenly the burning ceiling crashed down separating us from the ghouls, giving us the opportunity to flee.

Over us, the Facility collapsed and we managed to get outside as a wall crumbled down before us.

We made our way over the icy plains with nothing but the clothes we were provided with.

We had no food, nothing to drink, we walked and walked and walked some more, always forward never once looking back.

We arrived at a hill far from the Facility as the land was suddenly illuminated by a warm light.

 _ **Flashback End, Red´s Pov:**_

"It was the sun..., after 8 years of existence I finally saw the sun for the very first time in my Life.

I remember that back then I cried, we all cried out of Joy, that we made it..., 30 of us made it out of the Facility, we finally were free." Father explained and I really teared up by this story, I could see it in his eyes that this story did also made him sad, so I placed my small hand on his big one, making him smile a little.

"Now that you know how we were born and how we escaped, its time to tell you what we did after that escape." Father stated and in his eyes I saw how he relieved these days.

 _ **Flashback, over 13.000 years ago, Maranell´s Pov**_ :

We wandered, not sure were to go, as long as we moved forward, away from the Facility.

As I was the one who initiated the escape, I was told to become the Leader of our Group, I was fine with that as I had a vague idea were our travel would lead us.

It was like back then in the Facility, nights before our escape, I had visions of what to do, where to go and what would await us.

Due to that the Children who came with me, put their entire faith in me and it would have been a lie to say, that it did not put a lot of pressure upon my shoulders.

Especially since I knew something the others didn´t, something I could not tell them.

That only 9 of us, myself included, would arrive towards the place we had to.

9 out of 30, it was a horrific vision I had, considered all the expectation that rested upon my shoulders

Whenever we rested somewhere, I taught the other kids how to read and how to write, as best as I could do so myself, it was enough for us to communicate but I bet if we would have reached a village, none of the villagers would have understood a thing we said.

Four days after our escape we managed to get out of the cold tundra and the snowstorms which had enclosed that valley, 1 of the Children had died already due to high fever as he was injured during the escape by one of the guards, before the ghouls caught him.

I was not better of to be honest, the claw-attack of the ghoul hurted extremely, but since we patched it up with the cloth made out of the clothes of the kid that died, after he did not need them anymore, I was able to go on.

To stay alive, we drank the water from melted snow by eating the snow, eating we did what we could find..., greenery was hard to find out here, so we killed any small animal which came our way, eating its flesh raw.

Of course, did that meant that we often had to suffer grave food-poisoning, but it was all we could do to stay alive.

I told the children to take proviant with us, meaning, to keep some of the meat for later on.

The bones of the animals we used, by sharpening them with stones, as weapons.

We used the thick and warm Fur of the more docile Animals that came our way, but which we killed nevertheless, as primitive clothes, simply a big piece of scalped skin was wrapped around us, while we used the same cut as the clothes we wore.

The belts were made of the same materials to hold everything together, desperation made quite creative if I may say so.

None of us was taught in survival training, but experiencing things was easier than trying to figure things out on our own.

A week had passed, we knew that because we counted how often the sun rose and how often it got dark, we knew about days because of the routines at the Facility, after a certain period of time we were brought in a big room, where we were washed and newly dressed, before we had to get back in the cells.

Always after 6 times sleeping.

Maybe it was because of keeping us from being needlessly infected due to dirt getting in our wounds, or it was because the adult could no longer stand the smell, I preferred the first option, for it would mean that they at least cared a little about us.

It was then that we came across our first obstacle, a massive Wall stood right in the way we had to go.

"..., what..., doing?" I was asked by Shiro, a white lion in our Group, around the same age as myself.

"Climb..., over!" I replied and he nodded as I made the gesture appropriate to the meaning of my words.

We made our way over to the wall, hiding at the sides and in the shadow of the mountains around us, the wall was nothing if not suspicious, but I knew somehow, that behind this wall was a world we had never dreamed of ever seeing.

Behind this wall freedom was to be found.

So we made our way over to the wall, and as if made for us, a ladder had been built at its side.

On that day a massive snowstorm rushed over the valley, so visibility was already close to non-existent, but we had to go on either way, and so we climbed up.

But the prize for freedom was a hard one to pay.

2 Children of our group lost their hold as a gust of wind rushed against the wall and came from down up to us, we were already halfway up, as we heard screams, all I still saw was a face contorted in fear vanished in the snow.

The pain I felt whenever one of us died was ripping my heart apart and yet I did not entirely understand it..., but I knew that much..., these kids, they depended on me and I still could not keep them alive, no matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried, only nine of us would survive.

After we managed to get up on the wall, the storm began to subside, and we were in awe of the view we saw.

Deep down under us, the world spread itself into infinity, the horizon was far and filled with clouds, as we looked back we could see that the Valley we knew was circular, it was the crater of an extinct super-volcano.

The wall was perhaps once used as a Dam for the village's underneath.

Which must have meant that we currently were in winter, as the entire Crater-lake was frozen over, the facility must have built right in the middle, making it close to impossible to be taken over by ground forces and an Air raid was instantly bombed of by the guard towers, spread across the crater.

Same as on the other side, there was a ladder on the side we had to go, just as if it had been built for us.

Carefully not to be spotted we made our way over the large wall and down the ladder.

I barely could believe, finally we were about to leave the dreadful place, which we once called home, behind.

Our journey onwards led us through a tundra and forests with changing climate, once it was cold, once the sun warmed us up.

Food was plenty here, finally we were able to eat other things than raw meat, we found fruits and weeds.

Of course, since we did not know anything, we had to learn and that didn´t went without trial and error, 1 of the children, about half a month after our escape, upon finding ourselves in a forest, died on poisoning after eating various poisonous plants.

We buried his corpse just as we did with the first one, before we simply went on.

With the time we learned about a feeling, which we hadn´t before, a feeling I felt ever since that first child died, all this time before.

Sorrow.

As weapons without an own will, we were not allowed to show feelings, back then in the facility..., not that we even understood these feelings at all.

But whenever one of us died I had a bad feeling, a feeling of self-disappointment..., I walked, eat, drank, hunted and spoke with these children on my side, it was inevitable that we became close even if we could not understand it.

It lasted quite a long time until found the first village.

We were baffled that there existed more people outside than those we knew and even more we were astounded that they seemed so totally different than us.

Even the Children spoke in complete sentences, they played around, laughed, were genuinely happy, they had not to fight to the death, they had not to suffer harsh treatment.

But even more we had to understand, that we were the abnormal ones here, not them.

We were frowned at, stared at, picked at, spat at, shout at and even casted out of the village at some point as we tried to take food.

As you might can imagine was the concept of trading or buying completely unknown to us.

We were used to get food by adults when we killed someone and we were denied of it if we did not.

After killing one of the Cowboars in the village, before asking for food, we were chased out of the village by a mob of angry farmers.

We ran away to the next forest hiding, Shiro and Genma, suggested that we should attack the villagers just as we were taught so, but I refused, killing the mob might just mobilize the entire village to attack us.

But they did not listen and so they attacked in the dead of the night, of course we helped them, once we got aware that they were gone from the resting places we had sought out, but we paid the price for their actions, as I was badly hurt, while 2 more children died.

The girl I once saved, Ciarella, saved me, dragged me away from the battlefield with help of Arcana and Hanzo.

We managed to get away with just these causalities, but it did not help us.

We hid in a den deep in the forest after killing the Giu who had nested there, there we rested back up to health.

Due to our different genepool our wounds healed quite rapidly, even the Wounds from the ghoul claws were meanwhile healed back up.

Shiro and Genma cried the entire night, after Arcana and Ciarella shouted at them with the few words of insults we had heard from the villagers.

Ever since that day they never went against my orders again, also we finally learned the difference between right and wrong, careless killing was not helping anyone, the very least other people.

In this outside world, killing someone or something which did belonged to someone else, was a really bad thing to do, enough to ignite the wrath of an entire village.

It however also told us that we were just so completely different than the rest of the world, it made me angry to think that other children were spared of the misery we had to go through all our lives, but I knew better than to act on this anger.

The House I saw in my dreams was definitely not to be found in the village, so we marched on once we were all healed up.

We marched through the forest day and night always forward, a vague sense of which direction to go.

The visions I had, told me where to go and what to expect to know we were right, the vision of 9 children never changed, but I saw what awaited us, _**the silhouette of a man and a woman**_ who looked different than the Villagers.

Meanwhile about 2 months had passed ever since we left the facility, we came across 3 more villages in which we plundered the public garbage bins for anything still edible to find, otherwise we stole from the market and due to our better reflexes, we always managed to get away from our followers.

Of course, we gained much attention this way, so we never stayed close to a village longer than 2 days at most.

Due to the trash diving we found many books, difficult as well as easy ones, with the few words we knew we tried to read which was surely hard, but some of the books had pictures which went along with the story.

Through playing the stories we managed to learn some more words even if we could not pronounce them rightly.

About 3 months after our flight the worst thing happened.

We came across a village and we though that there everything would go just as before.

But we had no idea how infamous we already had been, after all we killed up to 6 villagers in that first village and stole many things in others, often knocking out and hospitalizing the chasers.

After we arrived in town we were greeted by a small patrol of Soldiers, the same kind from back then in the Facility.

They instantly went on the attack and we logically fought back.

Since our reflexes were far better than those of average Soldiers, we manage to slaughter many of them, but then they brought out the heavy weaponry.

They did not care about the villagers and their houses, if the witnesses were killed it was easier for them to later on cover things up.

We killed 10, but there were still a few remaining, not to mention that 4 of us died during the battles.

In the end we managed to flee the battle after Arcana and Ciarella sabotaged their weapon in a way, in which it exploded, taking half the village with it.

We managed to flee into the mountain range outside of the still intact village.

However, this incident divided our group, we were but 20 children anymore.

 _ **There was a young Caninu**_ who had lost one of his closest cell-mates during the battles in the village and was furious with me, as it was me who lead them towards that place.

A fight broke out in which result _**11 of the children left our group**_.

With a shock I had to witness that our group only consisted out of 9 members anymore, I was afraid of leading them any further, but I knew I had to, so we made our way further through the mountains.

Eventually we came up to a hill and what we found there astounded us greatly.

We found a farmhouse within a valley, surrounded by mountains and rivers, Cowboars were calmly eating grass, looking up, their glances falling on us, before going back to eating grass not disturbed in the slightest by us.

A Man and a Woman, unlike in had ever seen, worked in a small garden, before looking up as we arrived, they greeted us with the warmest smile I ever saw before.

I burst in tears as I recognized, that the place we had found, up here on the hill so far away from any other village or civilization, was the house from my visions.

From my group there were only 9 left and it were the 9 I saw in my visions; the vision finally came true.

Here I stood with the Man and the Woman, with the House I had seen and with my siblings and friends who were granted the luxury of gaining names, Shiro, Genma, Hanzo, Marikos, Arcana, Ciarella, Zora and Panmora.

It was a real shame that that Caninu and the other 10 children left us before seeing all this, but I was glad at least they did not died..., so I hoped at least.

As I cried like this the woman came up to us and while the others were wary of what she might do, I just sat there, while she kneeled down and embraced me.

And my tears turned into tears of sheer happiness.

 _ **Flashback end, Red´s Pov:**_

"It was the first time I experienced something like interpersonal love...

The Woman and the Man called themselves _**Amaterano and Susanono,**_ and believe me, back then I had no idea, that these two were just a disguise for what they truly were and that they were _**the offspring of Lady Yulungur**_ , for me they were just the friendliest adults I ever had met in my life.

But they were not ordinary in every sense, they were send here to wait and guide those who would turn this world around, and those 9 were we, due to a calculation which Lady Yulungur made ages ago.

Back as we finally got to know about that detail, it worried me a little, what if we hadn´t been the ones they were waiting for, would they have just casted us away.

They assured that only the ones for whom the message of Lady Yulungur was meant for would have find their way here, no matter what else would have happened before, but that it was necessary for them to find their own way towards them, rather than just being taken from the Facility.

We had to march on our own and suffer many hardships to learn and understand the way this world truly looked, to learn the value of Friendship, Care, Kindness, Leadership, Loyalty, Compassion and Faith, the seven Virtues which they would teach us.

But even more we had to learn the value of life, moral and trust, that these were the most important aspects of life, outside the boundaries of the captivity we knew, where we were only rewarded and to survive, when we disrespected these aspects.

It was really like coming from out of hell into paradise, the best of my years were spent there while I learned anything I never knew, we finally were taught on how to express ourselves, how to write, read and properly talk.

Our Fighting skills were sharpened by Susanono, from the rough style which we used before, just to kill the opponent regardless of how, to a style in which we performed splendid swordplay.

We were taught that we should only attack after being attacked first, unless we know that the attack would not only hurt ourselves but also many people next and behind us, those we were supposed to defend.

We were taught to love by Amaterano, as she showed me how I could I tell Ciarella how I felt about her, ever since she saved my life in that village instead of leaving me behind, that I liked her and wanted her to stay with me forever onwards.

Shiro on the other hand got infatuated with Arcana, ever since back then as she told him off, due to the attack on the villagers, as he had rarely seen a woman so fierce than her.

We stayed many years at this place until we were old and ready enough to do what was required by us.

A requirement we had seen and witnessed ourselves.

We had to fight to end this stupid war, take out the chess pieces which ignited the war always from anew, for personal gain.

But before we had to seek likeminded people and that's where things get even more interesting Red." Father explained before he took a sip of his coffee while I looked at him with curiosity.

What he then told me shocked me to the core, the secrets he told me, about _**the whereabouts of the Full moon Sphere**_ , _**the secrets behind the Seven swords, the Moon throne, as well as the Cardinal Trials**_ , even the original reason of why our world was created by Yulungur in the first place, in the way it is now.

Especially _**the important significance to complete the first trial**_ he explained to me.

It was important not only for me but even more so for White and for other potential kings and queens of other Region who had an important reason themselves, of why to participate, father told me that it would soon happen, once the Battles at Ragdoll were all over, that I was asked for the allegiance of several regions for the upcoming trials.

He told me that even as a prince, trust was something to be earned, not to just receive through a titel, and I knew, thanks to his story, what he meant.

If you cannot trust your neighbors, how will you ever defeat the enemies you see, not knowing if your Neighbor might not have ties to them.

You have to get to know your Neighbors in order to trust them, the same was with the allegiance of a folk, get to know your own folk and you will have it easier to earn their trust.

I found out about so much, things I did not know about the past and also, so much about the man I called my father, that I was almost overwhelmed with the amount of informations I received.

This talk was however not the only Memory I was about to see, so much was clear, this Memory was just one of many to still come.

Were three hours even enough for remembering all of what happened?

We will see, I just hoped that Chocolat was okay so far.

 _ **To be continued...**_

 _ **A/N: the Continents in this Chapter are being based of remaining 5 continents which had been set afloat by Yulungur, as in my Info stories to read, Elysia was the Supercontinent which Yulungur created out of these Continents once, but during the State of Belligerent states, from which part of this chapter tells about, it broke apart in 5 tinier Continents after removing its center point, named the Old Land Elysia,.**_

 _ **The Five continents created are Alasokia, which represents Northern America, Savahara, representing Africa and Terra Verte, representing South America.**_

 _ **Nautilus, which represents part of Europe and Asia around the Black Sea, up to France in the East, towards Poland in the north, Part of Russia and Kazakhstan in the west down to Greece and Turkey in the South**_

 _ **The Roselta region, consisting of the separated parts of Europe and Asia, mostly Russia, which floated and clashed together forming this region.**_


	4. The House of Memories IV, Exploring

**空とロマンス**

 **Sola to Romansu (Sky and Romance)**

 **Important side-stories**

 **Book 1:** **The House of Memories / Part 4**

 _ **Darven Islands, Savarin Orphanage, Chocolat´s Pov:**_

 _ **15 Years ago, Clawstone, Capital of Valhalla**_ :

It was strange..., to be honest I never imagine to myself how a dive into my memories might look like, but surely, I never thought it was like this.

As I walked through the streets of a city which previously was unknown to me and yet familiar again, I came across many memories from a life I had lost.

One such was that _**this Town was called Clawstone**_ and _**the Castle**_ which adorned its middle point, was called _**Jormungandr, the all-seeing Eye**_.

The Name came _**from the Valhallian word for `the Eye which repels the evil´,**_ since the King in the Castle ruless like a guardian deity, which watches over Valhalla.

However, the actual reason the Castle had that nickname, was because two large Rivers flowed along both sides of the circular town, swinging out like the lids of an eye.

And the castle in the towns middle point was made of white marble and stood out like the pupil of an eye from above.

At first everything was grey, black and white, but whenever I came across a building I had a clear memory from, the same began to gain back its color and it even came to life..., I could see scenes of my childhood playing off in the windows.

There was for example a pastry shop in which Anastasia and I often went to, to look at the goods they had crafted each and every new day.

My younger self looked cute to say the least, light brown fur and that unusual pinkish hair, blue eyes I had too and a smile, which made the knees of every grown man buckle.

While I wandered the streets, I saw more and more such things, houses of friends from school, the big plaza which I often visited with my sister, the huge statue of the Saint Panmora Pandaria, First Queen of Valhalla and her Husband, King Odrim Garontrias.

I remembered the stories I heard about the Saint.

She had been _**the one to fight side by side with King Maranell Wolvenra and King White Savage the 1st, to end the Feuds and Wars of the Era of the Belligerent States**_ , she was it, who united the divided Clans of the Kumears and drove them against their oppressor Donduros Bearfrost.

She took over the rule and encouraged the folk, men as well as women alike, into helping the army of both King White and King Maranell, while their army did all the fighting, the Kumears were mostly helping people, offering medical treatment and first aid and evacuating the towns which had been invaded and razed by the warmongering and plundering forces of the Tyrant Kings, King Anubis and King Taniel.

It was a story of a single female showing strength, courage, compassion and true leadership through inspiration and a clear and justified goal in front of her.

She established the believe in all of the Kumears that not only Men but also Women could be strong enough to fight if it was required.

Through her teachings, the Sisterhood of the Orion Valkyries came to life _**and the Clockwork-Tradition of the reign-shift every 10 years**_ was established.

In 40 years only, the Kingdom of Valhalla, which was established several years after the end of the Era of the Belligerent States, had _**4 different Kings, one of each of the supreme four Kumear Races**_ , in the following circle, _**Panda, Grizzly, Polar and Brown**_ and then the circle was repeated.

Here in Clawstone many different Kumear races lived and all of them appreciated and strictly kept the Tradition.

4 years ago, the Rule of my Father, King Zeus Kodiak Garontrias, had begun after the rule of the Previous King, King Zentrix Gelatorias, the father of my Mother, ended, and after Father was _**concurring for the right of ascension to the throne, with four other candidates of the Brown-Kumear Clan**_.

The Clan had many strong warrior-families within it, but also scholars and wealthy merchants, one each of them had theoretically the right to become King, but a competition was made to choose the best one, _**to represent all of the Clan´s wishes**_.

This vote was done _**by all the races on Valhalla,**_ the Candidates were to visit one each of _**the 4 realms of Valhalla, Bamboori, Lakefort, Snowfall and Walden,**_ to present themselves to the entire Kumear Folk.

The best suited candidate was then elected by vote, _**this vote was done twice,**_ with a week of reflection time between, this way a cheating and betrayal in the election could be prevented.

If the result was widely the same, the new King was elected, who then gave his vows to the folk and the kingdom a day after the election.

The other candidates then often took positions within the government which were open, or they were elected as _**Clan Chief and Vice Clan Chief of Lakefort**_.

With my Father being elected he was to rule for 10 years, before a new King was to be elected.

It rarely happened, that a new election remained unprofitable for the majority of Valhalla´s citizens, in that case the rule could be extended to 5 more years, by now this had happened only thrice in all the time the Reign-Shift Tradition existed.

Either way, Clawstone flourished perfectly, it was a busy town for sure.

The more I walked through the streets of the inner city, the more the same came back to life and let me tell you, the town in my mind was a beautiful one, you really could feel the happiness and joy in the air.

Everywhere there were people greeting me with friendly smiles, and although I was not sure if myself, as I was, was even truly existent to them, I greeted back.

My path was only blocked by pieces of the town I might see, but most likely never had been to, in the years I lived here.

As the Castle stood atop of a hill overlooking the circular town around it, it was evidently that I had not been in every corner of it, even when I was able to see them from above.

The streets I could not pass were either blocked by carts, people or other things, sometimes friendly guards redirected me back to where I came from before I could enter the streets, out of whatever reason.

But something told me that I would see these places someday, but not for now.

My stroll led me up to the castle, where I was heartily greeted by the people and the guards.

One thing was for sure, my former self must have been a lively and sweet self, getting everybody to like me.

 _ **Platinum Silver and Crimson Red banners**_ waved in the wind at the castle sides, one each of them was showing a different crest.

The silver one showed _**the crest of a lone howling Wolf**_ , the red one that of _**a Lion next to a Wolf.**_

Next to them waved _**the banner of our Valhalla**_ , which was _**Emerald Green with a White Crest of an attacking Kumear in its middle**_ , black letters within a band were written underneath.

" _In bellum, omnis pugnat._

 _In War, everybody fights._

This means that in a war not only soldiers and men fight, but also women and Children, and not everybody fights against another person, causing bloodshed.

Everybody who tries to survive, fights a battle against Death, that's why War is wrong.

No one should have to fight, just in order to live.

There is a saying, a true king never seeks war, but he has to always be prepared for one." A voice in my mind stated, a warm and soothing voice, I thought to remember a woman sitting in a rocking chair, myself on her lap, listening to her attentively.

"Anastasia..., whose are they?" I heard a voice asking loudly, louder and clearer than the voice before.

Right next to myself I saw a little girl of light brown fur with bright pink hair, barely 1 year old, next to a taller figure with clear white fur, purple eyes and long wavy dark green hair, about 3 years old.

It was myself as a little child and my Sister who had taken me by the hand, behind us I could see two Valkyries and Two Royal Guards, with neutral expressions on their faces, following us.

I seemed to have been so in awe with all the stands and places in town, that I never noticed them all walking next to me the whole time, maybe that was why the people greeted me..., they were greeting them.

" _ **The Silver Banner represents the Lupycans of Aurora**_ , their representant, King Shanuk Wolvenra, has arrived this morning with his oldest Son, Crown-Prince Kamui.

 _ **The Red Banner represents the Felidions and the Lupycans of Shamballa**_ , their Representants, King Iranuki Savage and their Prince White Savage the XIII, as well as King Shanuk´s Brother, Lord Nanukano and his Daughter Lady Nanooka, have only recently arrived.

They are currently on a visit to _**the Cathedral of Saint Panmora**_ , during their sight-seeing tour." Anastasia stated as she pointed into the direction of a couple of huge towers not far from the Castle, or so it seemed to me at least.

The Cathedral laid in the west of Clawstone.

"That's why we had to head back to the castle, once they arrive Father will hold an important conference with them, regarding our Bond with them both, also due to _**the attack last month, at the**_ _**SkyRider Base near Valhalla.**_

Mom and the maids shall take care of us Children, we are to meet her in the garden soon, it is an opportunity for us to get to know the future Rulers of the two Islands." Anastasia explained as we walked the stairs to the large door of the castle which was opened for us.

As we entered the Entrance Hall and made our way through one of the many vast corridors of the castle, we came across many maids and butlers who ran around busily preparing anything for the conference, soldiers of every Kumear-race and all of them in full armor passed us by, as we made our way towards the Garden.

The halls and corridors were richly decorated with gold ornaments on white marble, many portraits of former Royal Families hung alongside the walls.

The Big Portrait in the Entrance Hall showed Queen Panmora, King Odrim and their Children, _**Prince Rorin Garontrias and Princess Asora Pandaria, who each kept the two Bloodlines running**_.

In the middle of the Corridor which ran an entire round around the castle, we walked through another Heavy and tall wooden Door, which lead us behind the Castle, into the garden.

The same was a huge plain with Ornaments and hedges in perfect symmetry, several different flower-sorts existed here, from all of the four Realms.

Right in the middle of four huge flower beds stood a circular Pavilion in which a large round table stood, surrounded by circular benches, on two of these Benches sat each a person.

One was without a doubt a middleaged woman, the other one was a good-looking Lupycan man, a young adult.

"Dear Mother, we have arrived from our excursion to the town." Anastasia stated in a clear and mannered voice, as we arrived at the Pavilion.

The woman and the Lupycan looked up from the chat they had.

"Ah, Anastasia, Choco-Vanil, it is good to see you, may I introduce to you, the Son of King Shanuk Wolvenra of Aurora, Crown-Prince Kamui Wolvenra." Mother stated as she stood up to introduce the young man who too stood up and bowed infront of us, one hand on his uniform the other one behind his back, just as it was often seen with Royals.

Just as we were always taught, we curtsied infront of Prince Kamui, both thumbs and index fingers gently grabbed the hem of our dresses on each side and slightly lifted it a little, right foot back and to the side of the left foot, both knees evenly bended, our heads bowing, before we rose back up, hands folded together infront of us.

It was royal manner and many aristocratic houses saw it as a great deal, of holding such traditions in.

"It is an honor to meet you Crown-Prince Kamui, I am Princess Anastasia G. Garontrias, first Princess of Valhalla, and this is my little sister..." Anastasia explained.

"My name is Princess Choco-Vanil G. Garontrias, second Princess of Valhalla." I stated in a shy way, as my younger self, or should I rather say, as I curtsied infront of this foreign man, just as Anastasia did it.

"It is an honor to meet you." I continued and Prince Kamui smiled a friendly smile bowing to me as well.

"My name is Kamui Wolvenra, Crown-Prince of Aurora, at your service.

It is truly an honor for me as well, to make your acquaintance, young Princesses." Prince Kamui replied.

"I hope you had not to wait all too long for our arrival, Crown-Prince Kamui?" Anastasia asked, taking the initiative while I hid behind her, I was not really all that fond of strangers, even though the man infront of us had a kind smile full of compassion and charity, as well as a friendly, almost calming, aura.

"Oh don´t be worried, I do not mind it at all, I just arrived in the garden a while ago and had quite a nice chat with your dear Lady Mother.

And please by all means My princess, call me Kamui, I might be a prince and an Adult but we in Aurora do not see things that strictly, as long as the respect before the position is still existent.

I like it to be more casual, of course only if you allow it?" The Crown-Prince exclaimed and I nodded eagerly after mother gestured me to decide for myself, after a questioning glance from our side.

"We would love to." I replied and Anastasia nodded eagerly.

"Oh that's really good to hear, Royal etiquette can be a little stifling every now and then, especially when you wish to address someone casually, because you wish to become friends, rather than mere acquaintances.

However, that always depends on the conversation partner, sometimes upholding a strict etiquette is indispensable." Kamui stated and I knew what he meant.

"I can totally understand you, there are not often visitors from the outside coming here, which are around our age, so we do not often have the opportunity, to talk to people from other islands, without things becoming stiff and boring.

Most of these people only ever talk about politics." Anastasia stated with a relieved sigh while mom smiled from ear to ear.

It was not often that we participated in any royal gatherings, or special events, so her image of such a party was not that farfetched.

Even though we were Royals were we still warriors at heart, if offered to talk casually, we Valhallians rarely refused, that was one of the first things, we were taught after mastering the royal etiquette.

As long as we stayed nice, mannered, friendly and respectful, we were allowed to talk like normal kids do, instead of mimicking adults.

While we idly chatted under the Pavilion, our Mother stood up as she looked in the direction of the door.

Just like expected of a noblewoman she showed excellent and flawless behavior and etiquette, the way she curtsy was amazing and let our way of doing so, look like the clumsy attempts of peasant-children.

As she stood outside of the Pavilion, the sun illuminated her figure and for the first time I was able to truly look at her.

Snow-white Fur, dark green long and flowing hair, Leaf-green eyes, a pale-turquoise dress and an imposing size.

The dress was just wide enough not to show too many of her muscles, to be honest I bet she would look far better in an armor.

But it was my mother and my younger self seemed to admire her and love her dearly and I could plainly see why.

"Ah I see, we get some more Company, Crown-Prince Savage, Lady Wolvenra, it is nice to make your Acquaintances, my name is Queen Tereza G. Garontrias and I will be your caretaker for the day, I hope you can spend a pleasant day." Mom stated towards our newcomers, a young Felidion and a Lupycan girl, which seemed a little older, around Kamui´s Age.

We turned around and just like mom curtsied as well, as we greeted them both.

"It is an honor as well as a joy for us, to make your Acquaintance, Queen Tereza, Crown-Prince White Savage the 13th at your service." The Future King of Shamballa, whose ascension was only about a year away, stated, as he bowed deep and gave mom an old-fashioned hand kiss.

A gesture he didn´t had to do, as it was not anchored in any of the _**Valhallian Royal Etiquette Rules,**_ but which told of great respect from his side.

Maybe it was also a gesture of gratitude, as it were the Valhallian troops which helped the incoming Sky Riders, to fight back _**the Lycanian Attack**_ several Months ago, after one of their bases was destroyed by the enemy, only a few Felidions and one Lupycan of the Base survived the attack , but even he died not long after in the Hospital.

It was a truly sad affair.

"Once again you have the gratitude of my folk, for the way you helped us in the battle against the enemy, and how you treated our injured soldier during that incident.

Some of the Soldiers which were saved that day I know personally, so you can be assured that you have my gratitude." Prince White explained as he bowed once again, before turning towards Anastasia and myself.

"Prince White Savage the 13th, at your service, it is nice to make your acquaintances." He stated to us as we curtsied before him, with more grace than before.

We had a future King infront of us, it was surely not wise to get him to dislike us, it was unsure if he was as lax with the rules, as Kamui was.

"Likewise, my Name is Princess Anastasia G. Garontrias and this is my little sister..." Anastasia stated still standing infront of me in a half defensive manner, just like an older sister had to.

"M-My name is Princess Choco-Vanil G. Garontrias." I replied and the Felidion boy smiled at me with a radiant smile, making me blushing deep red.

"You sure are a princess, and it is really nice to meet you." The Crown-Prince of Shamballa stated as he came down on my eyelevel and showed me a coin.

I was a little confused by this.

He slowly traced his hands around the same and before I even knew it, a flower made of crystals appeared within his hand.

"A flower of my Kingdom for the little Princess.

And for her sister, a necklace of the finest platinum and gold, which our kingdom has to offer." He stated, as he offered a small box towards Anastasia.

"T-thanks." I stated shyly.

"Sigh, I guess you frightened them with your sudden action White." The Lupycan Princess explained.

"No it´s nothing, they are just a little shy around foreign people, especially important ones, like you are my Princes." Mother explained with a smile.

"Of course, that´s just normal, remember how we have been as our fathers took us out of Shamballa the first time, Nanooka, we barely go a word out during our conversations with the people of other islands." Prince White explained with a chuckle.

"Well we have enough time to get to know each other." Prince Kamui explained while Mother nodded.

"What do you think, let´s sit down and talk a little, Asumi, would you be a dear and get us some hot water, a few Tea-sorts and a few snacks, I bet you kids must be hungry and a little tired after the long travel and the sightseeing tour." Mother explained as she ordered a maid, which stood nearby, before the same curtsied and quickly walked into the castle.

"I think that is a good idea, I would love to get to know what has happened in Shamballa, ever since my last visit, don´t you think so dear cousin of mine?" Prince Kamui stated while Lady Nanooka nodded wordless, blushing deep red, but most likely not out of any amorous feeling for the young- and good-looking man.

If my adult self isn´t wrong, Lady Nanooka looked more like she was embarrassed of herself, infront of Crown-Prince Kamui, I wonder why..., was it an inferiority complex before her older Cousin?

"huh, what the...?" I wondered as suddenly the colors bleached out until my entire surroundings were white again.

It lasted only for about 5 minutes, before I felt a warm breeze and the smell of various flowers filled my nose.

As the colors came back, like paint on a white canvas, I found myself upon a hill, on one side I was able to watch over Clawstone, on the other side I saw a huge plain with forests and lakes and the vastness of the sky.

Somehow i just knew that some time had past, maybe a year.

I admired how tiny the huge town looked from here, the Cathedral in the west, the Castle in the middle, the Military camp behind the Castle to the north and in the east, _**the Citadel of the Ancient Bond**_ , which apparently held treasures from all four Realms, to symbolize the peace and allegiance between them.

The same were protected by several Guards of all four Realms, to make sure no shady mind came on the idea of trying to steal these treasures.

The south was left open and lead to the Great Gate, the only way to enter Clawstone on the ground.

The South was mostly consisting of Offices and the Bazar for the Merchants.

The Barracks for the Gate-Guards were there as well, most of the Town guards had their houses or barracks in the Military camp.

Most of the citizens lived on both sides east and west of the Castle, due to the Citadel and the Cathedral, which were both used for the Sunday prayers and whenever a citizen had a problem, they needed heavenly advices for.

Up here on the hill, underneath a huge cedar, you had the best view to the horizon and the vast space between.

"Children, shall we start the Picknick?" I heard my mother´s voice calling as Anastasia and my Younger self sat in a meadow of flowers, admiring the rich colorfulness and the little bees buzzing all around on the search for nectar.

Kumears had a fable for honey and the one from Clawstone was the best to find anywhere.

Without having to be asked twice, Sis and me stood up and crossed the distance between us and our parents in mere seconds.

The sky was blue, the sun was up and a warm breeze flew over the hill, it was summer and the perfect day for a Picknick.

"Did you bring the honey?" Anastasia, barely changed from the previous memory, asked our mother, if anything she looked maybe just _a year older_ from before.

"Of course, what is a Picknick without honey?" Another voice replied as a shadow fell over us, before we were pulled backwards and cuddled as well as tickled.

"Ahahahahaha, Daddy please stop, my stomach is hurting!" I shouted in joy and fun, it was plain to see that this was a happy memory and for once I was able to see all of my family.

My Mother was just as Beautiful as she had been before, slim, not too much, maybe even a little on the chubby side, with a few muscles showing, a fighter as well as an elegant lady.

Today she was dressed in a more casual way than before and she showed her emotion more than in the previous memory.

Our Father looked so completely different than I have met him to our current times, maybe it was because he still looks like a tall Caninu.

Here he looked like a dignified middle-aged Kumear of the Brown-Clan, he had exchanged his royal armor against casual clothing as well, but the royal aura still followed him wherever he went.

"Alright I stop but only if I get a kiss from my darling?" Father asked with a bright smile.

"Alright." My Younger self exclaimed a she gave her father a big wet smooch on the cheek.

"Awww thanks a lot, my little princess." Father stated as he nuzzled her.

I admit, although I knew it were my own memories, made me the same a little sad and quite jealous.

My younger self had anything I ever wanted, a home she truly belonged to, a family which loved her dearly and a wonderful future ahead.

Yes, I was jealous, but also full of sorrow as I knew that all of that was to be over far too soon.

If I would have known back then what would await me not so long from then, I don´t know if I would have still been able to smile like this, even knowing that right in that moment Peace still was uphold in Valhalla.

I was at a loss of words, as I watched my younger self and the family I always longed for sitting together, chatting, laughing, enjoying life.

All I could do was to let the tears in my heart roll down like a waterfall.

"So tell me young lady, are you ready for tomorrow?" Father asked me after they were done eating and chilled a little in the sun, my younger self sitting on my Fathers lap, while Anastasia leaned next to mom under the giant tree.

"Of course, then I can see White again!" I stated cheerfully with the biggest smile I had ever seen.

"You really have taking a liking in him, don´t you?" Father smiled and I smiled back.

"I like him soooooooo much!" I stated aloud.

"oh so you do..., more than daddy?" father asked.

"Hmmmm, no, I think I still like daddy more." My younger self exclaimed.

"Oh really, but you had to think about it didn´t you, you know daddy's going to be really hurt if he has to hear, that Little Choco, likes White more than him, but Daddy is a big Boy, he can handle it, so if you truly like White more than daddy, then you must tell him that tomorrow, you hear." Father stated while mom looked at us with a smile.

"But what when White doesn't like me as much as I like him?" I asked.

"Oh I am sure he does, I have seen it in his eyes, he is totally enchanted by you." Father explained while I looked confused.

"Enchanted?" I asked.

"That means that he cannot take his eyes of you and might decide to steal you, take you away and make you his queen." He replied and my Younger self squealed in delight.

"Yay, I will become a Queen, just like Mommy!" Young Chocolat smiled a smile so radiant, that even I had to admit that it almost shone brightly.

"Yes, a queen..., just like mommy..., oh Daddy is going to miss you so much if he comes to take you away one day." Father stated theatrically making mom rolling her eyes.

"If daddy is sad..., then I won´t go away." I said.

"Hnnng, you are too good for this world my sweety, but you have to go, as daddy is a grown man he knows that he has to let his little princess go, so that she will one day become a beautiful queen and find her own happiness, just like you and your sister are my happiness, my joy and my luck in life, all of you." Father stated.

"Oh so mommy´s included?" Mom asked.

"Of course she is, how would we ever forget her, she is essential for our happiness, a mommy has to be there..., and one day Little Choco, you will become a mother to your own children and I am sure they will love you just like you love mommy.

And we, Mommy and I will love them just as much." Father replied with a bright smile of his own.

"Daddy...,how are children made?" My innocent younger self asked and suddenly it was grave silent on this meadow, expect of the natural sounds, even the guards who stood at some distance were silent, although some tried to stifle a laugh.

But to the pleading and questioning eyes of my younger self, Anastasia´s added hers as well.

"I wanna know as well, Daddy, don´t just tell Choco anything?" Anastasia stated with a childish huff.

"Oh...,uhhhmmm..., well..., you see..., maybe mommy can...!" Father stated as he looked at mom for help, but she just signaled him that she would not, as it was him who provoked the question.

While our father tried to figure out a solution to the predicament, which he has driven himself into, the landscape infront of me, as before bleached out, getting paler by seconds, before returning to the wide whiteness between two memories.

As before I lasted a while before the Canvas of Memories was painted once again.

The View I had after everything came back to life was a different one than the one I had from Clawstone, I even doubted that we were still in Valhalla.

There were far too less Kumears running around, instead everywhere you could see Felidions and Lupycans, I bet this here was Shamballa, maybe the visit Dad talked about in the previous memory, so this here had to be one day after the memory of that Picknick with the awkward end.

The last day that I was still in the Savannha Archipelago, the last time I saw White in 14 years.

"Ah King Iranuki, it is an Honor to meet you again, you have my outmost gratitude of helping me organizing this Little party, a day before my daughter´s actual birthday in Valhalla.

I think she really has taken a liking in your son, I hope this relation might turn out even more positive in the future." Father explained as a group of Felidions and Lupycans arrived, King Iranuki and his Son, Crown Prince White Savage the 13th lead them on.

Although there were Lupycans, their leader was nowhere to be seen, so also Nanooka.

"The honor is mine King Kodiak, I too hope that my son and your daughters might become good friends in the future, having good relations with the other Islands is a must have in our current times, even more so in the near future." King Iranuki explained.

"Indeed, well then children, as you know your parents have an important conference to uphold with the other Royals of the 10 Kingdoms, you are free to roam the town, but please I beg of you to stay close to Banmori and the others, King Iranuki was friendly enough to offer us an additional group of guards from his side which shall work together with our guards..., they take their work serious, so please listen to what they tell you, all they do is in order to keep you kids save, have you understood?" Father explained to Anastasia and my younger self.

"Okay!" We both stated excitedly.

"But Daddy..." I stated in question, looking around.

"Yes, my dear?" Father asked, as I looked at him with a questioning look.

"Where is Nanooka?" I asked him.

"Well you see, since Nanooka is already 18 years old she has to participate in the Conference as she will be the heir of the Lupine de Shamballa sometimes, the last time we barely had much important things to discuss so she did not need to participate, but today´s conference is important so she will have to.

Coming next month, White too will have to participate in such conferences, as he will be the new King of Shamballa by then, that fact will be announced by tonight´s Party, as today is also his coming of age party." Father explained and I nodded with astounded eyes.

"You are already that old?" My younger self asked in childish innocent towards White who chuckled.

"Indeed, I am, coming next month I will be 15 years old and officially take on the title as new King of Shamballa." White explained and I looked in confusion.

I looked from him and his honest eyes over to his father.

"But isn´t your father King..., Can there be two kings in one land?" I asked and made everyone chuckle which in return made me blushing in embarrassment.

"No need to be ashamed, it is a little complicated, I will tell you about it on our stroll through the town, okay?" White explained, as he patted my head and I nodded with a smile.

"Well then, me and your mother as well as King Iranuki have to go now, Banmori as we discussed before, do I leave you in charge, understood?" Father stated as he looked at a young Valkyrie, younger than most Valkyries I have seen by now.

"Of course, your Majesty, I won´t disappoint you!" The young woman explained as she kneeled before Father and Mother.

"I trust your skills as I was the one to have taught you, so excel in your task, these kids are the future of both our islands!" Mother explained as she laid a paw on Banmori´s shoulder.

"Yes, my Queen!" Banmori Gongmeng, Valkyrie of the Orion Sisterhood exclaimed with clear and loud voice, bowing her head.

As the Sisterhood of Orion was originally founded by the first Queen of Valhalla, which ultimately had been the main ruler next to her Husband, King Odrim, the Orion Valkyries respected their Queens even more than their Kings, not that they did not honored their Kings as well.

However, since Mother had been an Orion Valkyrie herself, not to mention her Mentor, it was of course something entirely different again.

Banmori Gongmeng had been my Mothers Student, before the same became a Queen and she was _a real prodigy_ as much as I remember, the best Valkyrie of her Age and she even managed to hold herself against various veterans of both Valkyries, as well as Royal Knights.

With a fist to her heart, one arm behind her back and her head bowing she saluted infront of Mother, it was the famous salute, solely used in the Sisterhood.

"My Knights will be under your jurisdiction as well, use them in what way you see fit, I entrust you with the life of my son, but he is a strong fighter himself, despite looking harmless." King Iranuki explained.

"Yes Your Majesty!" Banmori saluted before King Iranuki who nodded with a smile.

"We are 9 guards, 2 for each of our sides, you, you and I, we will act as main guards of the children.

If the other 6 fall, we three will be the only ones left to fight, one each of us will fight for one Child until our last drop of blood, understood?" Banmori ordered as she spoke to the guards, 2 Valkyries, 2 Valhallian Knights, 2 Felidion Guardians and 2 Lupycans as well as herself.

Our personal Guardians were consisting of a strong looking Valkyrie for Anastasia and a Female Felidion Guardian for White, Banmori herself stood next to my side smiling with a well-willing expression.

"Have no fear my Dear Princess, I will defend you, all of you, with everything I got." She explained with pure confidence in her expression.

With the guardians chosen and placed, White encouraged us to start our tour through the town.

While we walked around, him showing us the best sight-seeing points of his hometown, we came back on the topic of him becoming King.

"So how was that meant before, that you become king next Month" I asked and he nodded while Anastasia gave us a little room speaking with Banmori about the different fighting-styles of a Valkyrie, she was quite interested in that stuff as she wanted to become a Valkyrie herself someday, next to _her wish to become a famous singer_.

She had an amazing voice for sure, but I was unsure if she really would be allowed to do something like that, as a Princess, I think becoming a Valkyrie was more possible than the alternative.

But I would surely wish it for her to be able to follow her passion, who knows maybe she can become both, a Singer and a Valkyrie.

"Well it is actually like this, Dear Princess Choco-Vanil..." White stated but i frowned.

"I don´t really like my entire name, there were some children on the parties i had to attent who made fun of it, so i don´t like it, and only listen to it if it is used by strangers but not by friends...

I hate it..., even though I like **_the Chocovan Ice Cream from Snowfall,_** call me Princess Chocolat or Princess Vanilla..., or simply Choco." I demanded and he nodded with a smile.

"As you wish, my Princess, then please allow this humble prince to adress you as Princess Choco." White explained.

"Choco is just fine, after all we are friends, aren´t we?" My younger self asked.

"Very well, Choco..., anyways, my father, King Iranuki, is actually my Uncle..., my real Father, White savage the 12th, died during the war, leaving my pregnant mother and his folk in the care of his younger Brother, Uncle Iranuki Savage.

As I was still unborn and too young anyways, to take on the throne, the High-council of Shamballa introduced my Uncle as replacement King, until I was old enough to take upon the throne myself, which happens once I reach my 15th birthday, next month.

As I never truly knew my biological father, Uncle Iranuki has always been my father to me, but that does not mean that I do not honor my real father, White Savage the XII.

There are times that I wish I could have gotten to know him for real." White stated.

"I see, so how come that you and your father have the same name?" I asked and he chuckled.

"I know it is silly..., this is some kind of tradition in Shamballa dating far back in the past..., ever since our first King, the next kings to come always bear _**the title of White Savage**_ and are also mostly know under such.

However, and that is something only the least people know, do we all actually have _**an own name given by our birth**_ , but as I said, that one is mostly unknown and even if, unused by our folk.

For everybody else, even my own half-siblings, I am but White Savage." White explained.

"So what is your real name, I mean if you have one, it would be sad if no one ever uses it, so if you want me to I will use it, just as you call me Choco." I stated and he smiled brightly.

"You don´t have to do so in public, we can do it if we are in private, it would only confuse the others if you would call me that way now, but since it is you I will tell you my real name." White stated, before he came close to my ear.

" _My real name is_ _**Cereus Melizera**_ ; _my Father's name_ _was_ _**Candor Melizera**_." White whispered and I saw how the eyes of my younger self lightened up.

"That is a beautiful Name." I stated and he nodded.

"But keep it for you, as I said it will only confuse other people anyways, _the only people who actually know about it ** _,_ are Uncle Iranuki, my mother and the High-priestess, Lady Savurella Armin and now you**_." White, I mean, Cereus, explained.

"I only know the names of my Grandfather, _**Cinis Melizera**_ and my great-grandfather, _**Creta Melizera**_ , all of the other names have been lost in history, I also only managed to get to know about them from my teacher who had been the High-priestess several decades ago, Lady Cassandra Melizee and after asking Lady Savurella." Cereus explained.

" _I see, well at least you have a beautiful name..., Cereus..., I like it_." I whispered smiling brightly.

" _I´m glad you like it, but this will be our secret, okay Choco?_ " He asked and I nodded eagerly.

"Okay but then let me at least call you in a nickname of your official title, after all you call me Choco." my younger self demanded

"And how would you call me then?" White asked.

"How about..., Whitey?" I asked and I could see how White blushed deep red.

"I-If it is your wish." He stated after a while.

"Then from now on you are Whitey for me..., it was actually the name I used, as i heard yours the first time and was unable to pronounce it rightly." my younger self snickered evily, while White smiled in a forced way.

Though he was a little embarrassed wasn´t there much reluctance in him after seeing my radiant smile at him.

The Scene changed after a new bleaching out of my surroundings.

the memory that came struck me as not long after the previous one, most likely later that day.

White and I sat together in the Garden of his Castle in Shamballa, Anastasia sat on a table not far from us with Banmori while our guards stood in close vicinity.

Somehow i knew this Memory..., yeah i had seen it before hadn´t I..., the day i met White the first time, as i slept after treating his wounds.

"Whitey…., you see…., you know what I want to do when i´m an adult!" My younger version asked.

"No, what do you want to do Choco?!" White asked me.

"I want to become your bride!" My younger self snickered.

"Oh, but are you sure, I mean I am quite older then, do you really would like such an old man like me then, maybe one of your Kumear friends becomes your husband then, isn´t that more possible?!" White stated smiling.

"No…, I want no one else but Whitey, Whitey is cool and strong and the best, he is the one I love, I love you Whitey, please let me be your bride!" My younger self pressed herself on the smiling boy.

"Alright, alright Hahah, then let´s say that as soon as you become an adult, I will marry you and only you!" White stated with honest eyes.

"Promise?!" My younger self asked.

"But of course, I swear it, by a unbreakable oath if you want!" White stated.

"…No I trust you…, and…., I don´t like pain, I rather want my Whitey without pain!" I stated snickering.

"Well then it´s set, when we are adults we marry each other, I, Cereus Melizera, White Savage the XIII, Crown-prince of Shamballa, swear this to you, Choco-Vanil G. Garontrias, 2nd Princess of Valhalla!" The White of my memories stated and there was no mockery but real honesty in his eyes.

"I Choco-Vanil G. Garontrias, 2nd Princess of Valhalla, swear this to you, Cereus Melizera, White Savage the XIII, Crown-prince of Shamballa, as well!" My younger self stated, before she kissed White bluntly on the lips, taking him fully of guard.

It was brief and it made me getting caught in a fit of giggling.

"No cheating Whitey, you belong to me now." I stated in all seriousness.

"I would not even dare, my Princess." White exclaimed as he kneeled and kissed my hand in an old fashioned manner, Red did that too somtimes, whenever she showed some outmost respect, he did it the day we left the Orphanage to the Director, as much as i can remember.

"Chocolat!" I heard it from somewhere, I looked to see Mother walking up to us alongside Father, their presence drove me a bright smile on my young face and a devious grin appeared on it not long after as i glanced at White.

"Mommy, mommy, Whitey just promised to marry me when I am an adult!" my younger self shouted with joy, as she ran up to her mother, before WHite could do anything agains it, in the end he simply smiled.

"Oh is that so…, well I hope he remembers that a onetime given promise like this, means a binding promise to us Kumears, there is no backing down from it anymore!" The woman stated with a bright smile.

"Of course I know this fact, Queen Tereza, and if you allow it to me, I really would love to ask for the hand of your daughter in marriage, as soon as she has her 16th birthday!" White stated with a polite bow and honest voice.

"Hmm, I will not forget that request, Prince Savage, just so you know, the next time we will meet i will make sure to remind you of it for sure.

We, myself and my Husband King Kodiak, will speak with your parents about it, the next time we meet, I´m sure we will make a contract about that, to make it official!" Queen Tereza stated and White nodded with a neutral smile, not at all indicating if that was in his intention as well or not.

Maybe he was joking before but something told me he did not, but i would understand if this developpment went far too fast for him.

Was Mom really that eager to secure me a potential husband for the future, that she did not minded him to be of an entirely different Kingdom, even the future King of that Kingdom.

Would she tell his parents after the accession ceremony?

Was Mother truly serious about this?

"Dear, are you sure we should...?" Father asked unsure, but was hushed by Mother.

"Indeed we shall, as I said there is no backing down from this promise.

Crown Prince White himself has asked for the hand of our Choco in marriage and o it will be done!" Queen Tereza G. Gelatorias, mine and Anastasia´s Mother stated.

My younger self had the brightest, most non-chalant smile on her face.

"Nothing lies further from my intention as to break this promise, I really love Choco, she´s just the cutest little bundle of power alive and it would be an honour for me to marry her!" White stated honestly again and I barely could trust my ears.

I remember that he did told me that he loved me even though i was barely 2 years old, but back then he was unsure if he himself had been 3 years old and if i was missing from the Savannha Archipelago for 13 years or only almost 2 months.

To hear him confessing his love and proposing like this, made me blush deep red.

Dad and Anastasia looked as though as they were at a loss of words, due to Mom´s behaviour, but i could see how Anastasia glared at White with an angry stare before turning back around, which the same accepted without reluctance.

"So shall it be then…, but now we have to go, or else your Daddy and Sister will be angry and might commit a crime they would never be able to undo!" Mom stated snickering, as she saw the mines of Father and Anastasia.

"I don´t like Daddy being angry and I don´t like Anastasia to dislike me!" My younger self stated shyly, as she looked at them both with puppy-eyes, making both trembling .

it was as though i could see the fight between their protective instinct and their love for my younger self and their wish for me to be happy.

"That's why we need to hurry sweetheart, say goodbye to Prince White!" Mom stated, still trying not to smile too brightly infront of her husband.

"Goodbye Whitey, you are my s ** _un with the heart of a lion_**!" My younger self stated.

"Haha, it´s the other way around Choco, it´s called a **_Lion with the heart of a Sun_** , it means that he bears leadership and loyalty, righteousness and charity, as well as kindness and compassion in his heart!" Mom explained amused.

"Maybe but for me he is the sun, because every day with him makes me happy, just like when the sun is shining, therefore he is my Sun!" My younger self naively but truthfully said, believing every word of that claim.

"My dear Choco, I am whatever you want me to be, if I could make you happy with it, I would even got to the end of the world and back, just to bring you the treasures I would find!" White stated, as he took my hands in his, very gently, and looked deep into my eyes.

"I Love you, but now you have to go, I´m sure that soon we will meet again, I look forward to it!" He said smiling but his eyes were a little sorrowful and every single word burst with honesty.

"See you next time, Whitey!" My younger self stated aloud in joy and tears before the memory suddenly became blurry.

Once again the Colors before me bleached out and this time it lasted quite a while until the next memory emerged.

However already from the beginning, I understood that this memory was not a nice one.

The entire place around me got black, I saw a dark lit paved ground underneath my feet, embers flew in the night as the light of fire illuminated a dark alley.

I was carried by someone running, the wind whipped into my face, the stench of fire and other things filled my lungs, making me choking and coughing.

"Please hurry, Princess Anastasia, we must make it to the secret dock as fast as possible, the Ursa Grande is our only chance to get off the island." I heard the voice of Banmori stating breathlessly.

I saw how my younger self contorted her face in pain, her knees bleeding, but she stayed strong and kept quiet, silent tears rolled down her eyes.

Anastasia ran next to Banmori, pulled along by her wrist, stumbling forward with a terrified expression on her face.

"B-but the others?" She asked.

"They are beyond help my princess, they have died to protect you, I am the only one left and I have sworn to protect you girls from all evil, until my last drop of blood and I will keep that oath, no matter what." Banmori stated with eyes full of grim determination.

"I cannot believe that all of this is happening." Anastasia stated.

"Neither can I but unfortunately, I does happen and that right now, so we have to get you in safety.

Your parents ordered me to get you off this island, by all means necessary, they told us to meet up with them at the secret docking station, but Mr. Guarando is the only one who knows where the same is." Banmori stated and now I saw that we ran after someone.

It was another Kumear with gray-black Fur, he did not look at all like a Guard, but he still wore a royal uniform.

"Say Mr. Guarando, the Ursa Grande, is she as operational as the Ursarion?" Banmori asked the man infront of us.

"Indeed, the two Royal Airships were built with the same technology, the only real difference is their armor and weaponry.

The Ursarion is strong but more designed for defensive measures.

The Ursa Grande on the other hand, has a strong defensive system but an even stronger offensive weaponry.

It was constructed for extreme situations , such as bringing the citizens, Royals and diplomats into safe exile during war-times, as an ark, and it is therefore far bigger than the Ursarion.

However it has never before been used, ever since its creation several decades ago, still it gets controlled once every month by its crew, to be prepared at all times.

You can be lucky that my father helped building the Airship and that I am part of the 5 Pilots who actually can fly it."

I just hoped I could take Mayuri, Sunako and Seichiro with me, as well as my still unborn _**Mei-Onda, my little Butterfly-flower.**_ " Mr. Guarando explained, as he looked at a photo in his locket, as we stopped at a crossroad.

From up here on Banmori´s arms, I could see that it showed his pregnant wife and his 2 children.

" _If only we would find some more Valkyries, it will be hard to fight an entire hoard of Lycanians while simultaneously defending three people_." I heard Banmori mumbling while we made our way through the streets of the once so beautiful town, which was now but a scorched battlefield.

"Banmori do you think it looks like this everywhere or just in Clawstone." Anastasia asked.

"Considering how many fiendish warships have already appeared, it is safe to say that it most likely does.

That the Ursarion was shot off from the ground, is an evidence how far the Lycanians have already spread.

There is also basically no resistance anymore which means that they must have known where to hit first, the military campus and the barracks.

They then razed the entire city, without anyone able to effectively fight back.

No matter which way we turn it, this here was an insider job, they knew exactly where to hit us to get a free passage to unleash their destructiveness upon us." Banmori stated.

"Oh no, someone is coming, someone evil." I exclaimed as suddenly a chill ran down my spine.

"My princess, your hair, can it be, do you mean the enemy has found us?" Banmori asked in shock, as she looked at my hair turning red, it was some strange phenomenon I could not explain.

"Indeed, it is as you say, dear Valkyrie." Suddenly a voice stated behind us.

"Who..., oh my god..., Bunbart!" Banmori exclaimed gasping as she looked at the old Shaman, who stood with a pack of Lycanians around him, at the other end of the alley.

"What is the meaning of this?" Banmori asked as the Lycanians went in an offensive position.

"I would say this is the end, dear Valkyrie, if you hand over the princess, we might be able to let you go, King Lycan can surely use such an exceptional warrior like you in his ranks." The Old Shaman stated.

It really came like a shock, in my memories I always saw _**Bunbart Pandaria**_ as a lovable old man, who loved to tell tales of the past to us children, he often came to the palace as he was also **_the High-Shaman, the spiritual counselor of the Kings_** and the so called ** _Lore Keeper of Valhalla,_** whatever that meant.

But to see him betraying his King, his land and his People..., what could have driven this man to commit such a heinous crime?

"Why?" Banmori asked as she sat me down in the arms of Anastasia, which was shielded by Mr. Guarando.

"Speak up, why did you betray us, Bunbart, aren´t you supposed to be the Lorekeeper of Valhalla, what is the reason for you to commit this crime?" Banmori asked in a threatening tone as she unsheathed her sword.

"I honestly don´t know..., I just kind of felt like doing it." Bunbart replied and something was strange about that excuse, it did not sounded mocking or in any way down-playing anything, if I would describe it, it sounded like he was telling the truth.

"I see, then it is useless to talk about it any longer, for such a betrayal there is but one punishment.

In the name of the Orion Valkyries, I, Banmori Gongmeng, shall punish you for your crimes, your sentence is death by my hand." Banmori shouted as the Lycanians attacked.

She punched and kicked those away who came too close towards us, while slicing her way through the attackers.

"Stay here I will defend you." Mr. Guarando explained as he hovered over us, shielding us with his body.

While all this horror played off, the sight of it was practically burned into my mind, flames burning bright, dark silhouettes with red, blazing eyes coming closer and backing away again, their sharp fangs gritted, laughing and howling in the Moon, in a way which froze the blood in my veins.

"Anastasia" I cried in fear and I clang to my sister´s arm, while she held me close shielding me from the sight, but I still could hear anything.

"You soon tire out little Valkyrie, isn´t it about time for you to give up, I still have a lot of men in reserve.

Once I killed the princesses, I will destroy the entire island, you have lived in peace and forgotten how to fight.

Your fate was extinction and it was inevitable." Bunbart stated but something was still strange about him, the look in his eyes, _**this was not the same old Shaman I knew,**_ to be honest his eyes looked strange, _**this was not Bunbart**_ , someone else was speaking now.

"A Puppet, he is like a marionette." I exclaimed loudly.

"A marionette, you mean he is possessed, his mind controlled..., are you sure little princess?" Banmori asked while fighting.

"It is but an assumption, but being in his surrounding does not feel the same way Bunbart´s presence has always felt, it feels far more sinister, nothing familiar at all." I replied.

I don´t know what it was, but Dad always said that it might be some kind of _**hyper-sensibility to evil intentions**_ and Mom always stated that I was smarter than most children of my age, especially so because I understood things and words, others would not even be able to pronounce.

But right now, all I knew was that I was but a little girl who was terrified, from what she witnessed and felt.

My current self, had to watch the scene my younger self was in, without being able to help her in anyway.

Everyone just passed through me, as if I was a ghost.

It was beyond frustrating.

Still during all of what happened I wondered about something..., why didn´t my hair change during all the dangers, which I encountered with Red here in the Shepherd Republic..., was it because I instinctively believed that Red could solve every such problem and take on every threat.

Was it because _**Red radiated an**_ _**aura of reassurance**_ , which told my mind which panicked, that everything was going to be alright, because Red would solve it, because he was there with me, always...?

Red had always been my hero, my love for him ran deeper than a mere siblings-bond.

I felt for him, physically as well as sexually, I might keep on saying that the night we once spent together was but an accident, but deep down I always knew, that I just waited for the opportunity to sleep with him, to feel his own lust scorching my skin with a sweet sensation.

In the end I was never able to make him mine, but I was able to fulfill myself a dream, to show Red what I truly felt for him.

I might have told Elh that I let go of my feelings for him, but who am I kidding, I still love Red..., his presence helped me through many dangerous times and through many sorrows.

I wish he was hear with me now, in this second.

But I was sure that the touch of his hand, which I somehow still felt, was enabling me not to lose my own mind, while witnessing all this.

Having to watch without being able to help was truly gruesome, especially as Banmori fell to the ground exhausted, a Lycanian held her arms back and sat on her back to keep her from escaping and resisting.

"You are strong, I give you that..., but at long last you had to give up, in the end even the mighty Valkyries are no match to King Lycan´s forces.

Now, that this is out of the way we can get back to the task at hand.

Hand them over, fatso!" Bunbart's voice exclaimed.

"Only over my dead body!" Mr. Guarando shouted, as he still defended us.

"Oh is that what you want, we can surely make your wish come true, either way you going to die, fatso!" Bunbart shouted.

"Don´t you dare call my Husband that way!" A new voice shouted, as suddenly several arrows landed in the backs of the Lycanians.

Before I knew what happened, several Valkyries and Warriors appeared out of the dark Alley and engaged in the fight.

Banmori was freed and Bunbart's forces were slain back.

"I don´t know who the hell you are, but you are definitely not Bunbart!" Another voice stated, as two women appeared in Valkyrie-battle-armor.

"My Husband would never betray his home!" One of the Women, an elder lady, shouted.

"I will find out who you are and what you have done to my Husband, as true as my name is _**Taluvien Pandaria**_!" The lady shouted and I recognized her as Bunbart's Wife, _**the Shaman and Orion Valkyrie, Lady Taluvien Pandaria**_.

She stood next to _**her son, Boka Pandaria**_ , who helped Banmori up.

"Are you alright, dear, i´m sorry that we are so late, we still had some citizens to safe, do they hurt you much?" The same asked as he looked at Banmori with a glance full of worry.

"I am alright sweetheart, but it seems as if someone is controlling your father like a puppet, at least that's Princess Choco´s assumption and her intuition is rarely wrong." Banmori exclaimed as she stood back up, supported by _**her fiancé**_.

"I don´t really care about him being controlled or not, but I hope that through him we find the one who has mocked my beloved husband, no one is left unpunished who calls Pablo names." Another woman stepped next to Lady Taluvien, another Panda-Kumear Valkyrie in battle armor.

"My love, did you just came back to save us?" Mr. Guarando asked, as he looked with pure admiration towards his wife.

"Of course, me and the Kids were saved by Lady Taluvien, after they attacked Bamboori and burned the same down..., mom didn´t make it, but I had sworn I would not lose anyone else of my family.

With the Lady and other survivors of Bamboori, we made our way towards Clawstone, picking up other survivors from various tribes along the way.

They attacked the Villages simultaneously, this was a planned assault and if we assume that Bunbart had been controlled since at least yesterday, they knew exactly when and where to attack, since the King and the Queen were away with their family.

I just still don´t know, how they managed to get Bunbart in their claws." Mayuri Oonda, Pablo´s Wife, explained as she and a few other stepped infront of Pablo, Anastasia, Banmori, Boka and myself.

"By the way where are the Children?" Pablo asked.

"They were evacuated by the remaining Royal knights and Valkyries in town, led by her Majesty and the Queen, they should meanwhile have reached the Ursa Grande.

After we saw how the Ursarion was shot of we made our way towards the crash-point but were unable to find you or any corpses which belonged to you or the kids, thank god you all survived." Lady Oonda replied.

"Yeah we surely had luck back then, as the steering systems were destroyed I really though we were all goners." Pablo explained with a sudden shuddering.

"Anyways I think we should focus on more important things now." Lady Taluvien exclaimed as we recognized that the fighting was almost over, the last one to stand was Bunbart.

"So what are you going to do, if you attack you will only hurt your friend, I myself will stay fully unharmed by that, so come and try to get me out, if you can make it, hahaha!" The sinister voice laughed.

"Dammit what now, if we do as he says father might die." Boka exclaimed unsure.

"Your father would rather die, than to know that innocent lives would be lost through his hands, we try our best to safe him but if there is no other choice, we will have to stop him at all costs, a broken puppet is useless to the puppet master." Lady Taluvien stated with determination.

"Bunbart has always lived and breathed for the future of our Land and he would tell us the same, our focus has to stay at defending Valhalla at all cost, even if this means sacrificing someone.

Still..., I would prefer it if we do not have to trade in any lives for that, but as things stand that won´t be allowed to us." She continued.

"Valhalla forever!" She shouted and the other Valkyries and Warriors nodded.

"We already lost _**our Son**_ , we won´t lose another child, that's for sure, we from the Gongmeng Family will fight to protect our family and friends and the people of Valhalla." An elder lady stated as she and another man at her side stepped next to Boka and Banmori, who looked up in sorrow.

" _ **Shuvra**_..., is dead?" She asked in sorrow as tears rolled over her eyes, it was the first time I saw her like this.

"Yes, unfortunately he died..., but he died honorable, defending the people who had sought refuge in the Cathedral, his courage will never be forgotten, we make sure his sacrifice was not in vain, as true as we are the Gongmeng Family!" Banmori´s Mother, _ **Sorelia Gongmeng**_ , exclaimed next to _**her husband, Shanru Gongmeng**_ , who nodded in pure determination.

"I won´t let the teachings of my master go to waste, I will defeat the enemy with all I have learned, I am _**Bjearn, Student of the real Bunbart Pandaria**_ , and I will make sure to make you pay, puppet master." A Polar-Kumear, standing next to Boka, exclaimed.

"By our honor as Valkyries and Royal Knights, _**the Lao Family and the Greyback family**_ , as well as all of the here present warriors, will fight to save and protect our kingdom and citizens, Valhalla Forever!" Another pair of Valkyries shouted in unison and a group of Kumears from all four realms followed.

"Valhalla Forever!" They shouted as they engaged the new incoming Lycanians.

As we were surrounded by them, there still was no escape, but I felt myself a little les frightened than before.

Each of the Valkyries and Royal Knights, or the overall warriors themselves, were strong and skilled in combat, the Lycanians held strong against them but ultimately, they were no match to them.

Not for the least for Boka and Bjearn´s manipulation of reality, an art they called _**elemental magic casting**_.

Bjearn managed to use fire and ice attacks, while Boka manipulated the wood of some trees in the vicinity to capture the Lycanians or beat them down with strong wooden vines.

"Dammit, this isn´t working, they are all too strong for the average Lycanian and taking control over this body was a waste of time as well, guess our informant was wrong, he does not know about _**the Nature Sphere**_." I heard Bunbart stating as he tried to run away.

"Not so fast, where do you think you try to run with my husband under your control." Lady Taluvien asked, as she arrived on a branch she had enlarged, right infront of the path Bunbart wanted to run to.

"Dammit." The same exclaimed as he looked around but quickly was incapacitated by vines and the rest of the Valkyries and Warriors, after they rounded up with the Lycanians.

"Hah, if you still want to save him, I advise you not to kill him, unless you don´t care about him?" The voice of Bunbart stated with malicious glee.

"We long know who you are, Beowulf, the wretched but loyal warrior of Lycan, you might hide yourself behind the body of my Father _**through dark magic**_ , but that won´t help you.

My father has always said that he would rather be killed then saved, if he ever would be controlled by the Lycanians, his knowledge as _**Lorekeeper of Valhalla**_ should not fall into your hands, and as desperately as you are right now, it is evident that you haven´t yet _**extracted the information you wanted**_ , you still need my father, alive." Boka stated with grim determination.

"Also it seems as if you need time to detach yourself, from _ **a host you have taken control over**_ , otherwise you would have already left his body the moment we captured it.

Am I right with the assumption that you, when you are connected with a host, feel what he feels, even when you are physically not present?" Lady Taluvien asked and you could see how Bunbart´s face contorted in wrath.

"So what, are you going to torture him, I surely can handle a little pain and I won´t die on it for sure, even if it would hurt, but are you really willing to do that to your Husband, Kumear." Beowulf's voice asked with a wicked smile.

"If it makes you leave then yes, I am willing to do so, I think we have told you so often enough, my husband had strict rules for when he would be captured by you.

Kill or make them suffer, until they go away.

I might be his wife, but I am still an Orion Valkyrie of Valhalla, and the wellbeing and the future of Valhalla goes over everything for us, even love and family.

So if you ask me if I would torture my husband, to make you leave his body, then yes I would do so, without hesitation!" Lady Taluvien stated with grim determination and you basically could see, how Beowulfs entire conviction from before crumbled to dust in a matter of seconds, as Lady Taluvien pierced her sword right into her husbands shoulder.

"Aaaaaaaaahh, you damn woman, how dare you!" Beowulf shouted in anger.

"Still there, guess I have to do more than just that, forgive me my love, but it is only for the best." The Leader of the Valkyries stated as she stabbed her sword in Bunbart's other shoulder, making Beowulf screaming again.

The others around us simply stood by looking at it, no one moved, not that Lady Taluvien would allow anyone else to do it, not even her son.

She was the wife of her husband and had the conviction for doing all this, in order to save her husband and if there was no helping anymore, she would even go as far as to kill him, she wanted to live with that burden herself and would not allow her son to take on that burden for the future.

"You are nuts woman, you going to kill him, are you Kumears really that loyal to your King and your home that you deliberately kill your family?" Beowulf´s voice asked before Lady Taluvien stabbed both her husband's knees.

"The next one will be the stomach, if you are unwilling to feel that kind of pain, then you better leave him!" Lady Taluvien shouted.

"Nuts!" Beowulf's voice shouted in her face out of Bunbart´s body.

"Rest in Peace my love!" Lady Taluvien stated aloud and for once I could see tears in her eyes as she readied her sword with outmost conviction, ready to stab his stomach.

"Wait!" I shouted and I heard my younger self shouting as well.

"Princess please, I beg of you, let me do this, I cannot allow this evil beast to defile my Husband´s legacy any further!" Lady Taluvien stated aloud.

"Don´t do it, I know now how to safe Bunbart!" My younger self shouted.

"What..., how?" Lady Taluvien asked.

"His chest, before I was feeling the aura of evil all around him, but the more you stabbed him, the more the aura subsided, as if it was trying to detach itself, and now I can clearly feel it, the origin of the aura comes from his chest!" My younger self shouted.

"His chest?" Lady Taluvien mumbled as she went to look.

"Tsss, dammit, guess that means game over for me." Beowulf´s voice stated unamused but panting in exhaustion, as Lady Taluvien revealed a black crystal stuck in Bunbart´s chest.

"If the Crystal is destroyed, Bunbart will be free!" My younger self stated aloud.

"I see, but it is really deeply embedded in his chest..., how did this happen..., and when." Lady Taluvien asked unsure.

"That Lupycan..., don´t you remember, back then as the Sky Riders Base near Valhalla was attacked, there was but a few survivor.s, some Feldiidons which were mostly alive and one survivor which was at the brink of death.

A Lupycan that had been found on the battlefield, it was sheer luck we thought..., but what if he was left there on purpose, by the attacker?" Boka asked.

"What do you mean by that?" Lady Taluvien asked.

"He was brought to the hospital due to massive injuries, but they could barely safe him, so Bunbart was asked to look if he could do more with healing magic.

That must have been the moment, he was infected with this crystal, maybe it was but a tiny little stone at first, but ever since it must have grown without him noticing and once it was big enough it took control over him." Boka explained.

"Dad had been strange for a few days prior to today, but I played it off as him being in a bad mood, out of whatever reason, maybe because the Lupycan had died in the end." Boka continued as he went to help his mother.

It lasted quite a while but in the end, they managed to get the crystal out, but what came with it, was beyond disgusting, it looked as though _**some kind of insect was attached to the crystal**_ , or vise-versa, the crystal was attached to it, and had grown in size along with it.

"What in the world was that?" Bjearn asked after he quickly incinerated it, turning it to dust, as it tried to attack Lady Taluvien.

"A parasitical-receiver, I only ever once saw such a thing during the war, they are used to control the Lycanians and ghouls through dark magic." Lady Taluvien exclaimed with a sigh.

"It had been latched on Bunbart´s Heart and took over his nervous system ultimately taking control over his brain in the process, but I think detaching it might have caused Bunbart´s death." She stated as she caressed the cheek of her husband in a loving matter.

" _I´m sorry honey, I was unable to safe you, maybe I made things worse_." She whispered.

"Y-you did nothing wrong sweetheart." A voice exclaimed and everyone was silent.

"You did everything I wanted you to do in case I was possessed by the enemy and for that I thank you, if anything all of what has happened was but my own fault, only due to my own carelessness I was overtaken and basically invited the enemy into our home.

I am so sorry, to all of you..., Boka, my son..., I must apologize, for your father was too weak to resist, I tried to fight but I was too weak.

I have defiled the name of Pandaria for future generations, all of those who died today, they died through my own hands, I beg your pardon." Bunbart exclaimed as he coughed blood.

His life force was almost visibly draining and it was sure that even with the healing arts which Lady Taluvien used on him alongside her son, Bunbart´s life was not to be saved anymore.

"I am sorry that I have to leave you like this, but at least I was once more able to see the faces of my beloved family.

But I need to do something before.

All of you, do not ever speak of what you witness now, it is best if you all forget it, or even better, all of you but you Taluvien, turn around and cover your ears.

Princess Choco please come to me, it will also be important to you to hear this." Bunbart asked and my younger self was released by Pablo.

Anastasia brought me to Bunbart and then on his wish, turned around and covered her ears, same as all the people here, minus myself and Lady Taluvien.

"Taluvien I will now bestow you with my right as Lorekeeper of Valhalla, I am sure that you are far stronger than myself, with this..., I will give you all of my knowledge." Bunbart exclaimed as he grabbed the hand of his wife and I saw a green shimmer around his hand mixing with Lady Taluvien´s magic.

"I see it, I see it all..., Bunbart, why did you...?" Lady Taluvien asked in shock.

"It was the best way _**to keep it safe**_ , all of us Lorekeeper have done it in the past.

As the royals are the ones defended the most.

Princess Choco, I will now seal a memory within your mind, it will awake only when the time is right when you reach adulthood, I don´t know what will happen to you in the future, but you need to keep believing in Valhalla and it possible future.

Valhalla is not only a place in this world, Valhalla is in all of us, it are the people we have to save, to ensure that Valhalla will stay alive, no matter what happens.

Even if this island would one day be destroyed, as long as there are Valhallian Kumears around somewhere, Valhalla hasn´t died yet." Bunbart stated as he ruffled my hair.

He held my head in both hands and suddenly they began to glow in a green shimmer.

"There will come a day in which the treasure of Valhalla has to be used, the spell I give you shall be only used in this moment, it will not hurt you, but until that moment you have to stay alive at all costs.

One day the King of Felidions, White Savage, will appear before you and ask for your help to defend our world against the Lycanians and their dark Master.

He will need _**the Treasure of Valhalla, the Nature Sphere, one of 10 spheres of Abyssinia**_ , which has been _**sealed within you**_ upon your birth through magic, as your mother was still pregnant with you.

Its previous host was _**the Queen of Valhalla 98 years ago, which died at the age of 100**_ , through my own Master, whenever the previous host dies, _**the Sphere has to be relocated by the current Lorekeeper**_.

The Nature sphere is protected by many spells and so also protects its vessel, one spell for example warns the host from extreme danger by showing in a physical trait, in your case it even worked twice, as you seem to _**feel the aura of evil,**_ as well when your hair turns redder it tells others around you.

The Sphere will keep you safe as long as it stays within you, but that also means that you need to keep this secret to yourself, until the moment I have spoken of will come.

Do you understand?" Bunbart asked.

"Yes..., but how do I know when this moment comes?" I asked.

"It might come unexpected, but you will surely know when the moment has come, but make sure to understand, that the sphere shall never fall into the hands of evil, as it would mean that the last few Kumears fall under Lycan´s Mind control, like I did.

Valhalla is deeply rooted with the Nature sphere, in its first centuries since its existence it was kept in an ancient vault deep within the island underneath the castle.

Its influence affected the stone and the ground of the island we live upon and which we use for building the walls of our houses and everyday life, it is stuck in the groundwater and this way all of who ever ate from natures fruits or drank its water, have gained the influence of the Nature sphere.

Understanding this process and being able to harness this born force is what makes a shaman able to cast magic." Bunbart explained.

"Taluvien, when the time is right, you will need to teach the princess how to use magic, how to harness the immense power within herself.

I don´t know if you are going to be safe, there exist people who are sensitive to the power of the spheres and who can feel their might, one of them might try to steal the sphere from you, extracting it out.

However if it is forcefully extracted, the consequences to you will be nothing but death." Bunbart stated and I froze.

The hell..., why in the world did you put something so devastatingly dangerous inside of my body?

"I don´t know who you might meet in the future, but try not to trust anyone right at the start, get to know them and if you are sure to trust them, then do so, but do not trust them too much.

To get to live you sometimes have to use people for certain purposes, but only sometimes you hear, do not make it a habit, you hear..., only when there is no other way.

Although I do not wish it for you in the slightest, but should the circumstance come, that you die earlier, prior to the extraction, the Nature Sphere will turn your body into a large tree, with its pure energy centered in its trunk.

It happened only once, the host died on a heart attack outside of the castle on the hill, the large Tree up there has once been a Kumear-Princess." Bunbart explained as I remembered the picknick I had with my family only yesterday, under that same tree.

By all means, it was a beautiful one but the prevision of turning into a tree, if I die without getting this Sphere out of me, was anything but nice.

"A last thing, the force of the Sphere gives our folk its ability to shape shift, so it would be a good idea to disguise yourself until you are back in safety.

The ability of shapeshifting only works in a vicinity of 100 miles to the Sphere and its host, unless you are already transformed, then you can only turn back to your original form, if you use a big amount of magic you have stored up over the years.

Shapeshifting means that you transform into another form, but so does you physical force, alone your mind remains, however the form must be compatible with the size of your original body.

For example you can´t turn yourself into a member of the Ratto- or Racoguma-folk, a tall and large Caninu or a Felineko however would still work.

..., This is unfortunately all I can give you on your further journey, but I hope you will make it my princess." Bunbart explained after coughing hard, blood spilling from his mouth.

"My time is soon up..., Taluvien, I have always loved you and Boka and this island, tell the King and the Queen, that I am most sorry about what I have done while being possessed, it was never my intention to cause harm." Bunbart demanded as he looked deep into the eyes of his wife.

"Of course, I will tell them, your name shall not remain in shame, I won´t allow that." Lady Taluvien stated and Bunbart nodded before gripping his chest tightly.

"You have to get out of here, you have already spent too much time in this place, the enemy might send reinforcement, get towards the Ursa Grande underneath the Cathedral and get of the island with anyone.

Once the enemy vanishes, you can go back to build up what we have lost." Bunbart stated as Taluvien cradled him in her arms.

"My Life is fleeting..., I don´t have much time anymore..., Taluvien, I loved being a citizen of Valhalla..., and a member of such an ancient and honorable Clan..., I loved to tell my stories to the children..., but most of all I loved the shimmer in their eyes..., when listening to me..., because I am sure..., that one each of them will surely create a story of their own someday..., and I hope you will find a worthy heir of this task, Taluvien..., but for that you must live, so leave now, leave and live my wonderful wife and all of you children!" Bunbart exclaimed aloud as he let go of me, the green shimmer subsided.

Before anyone could say something, Bunbart stopped breathing.

"Goodbye..., Father..., I won´t ever forget you." I heard Boka stating.

"Everybody, we need to get moving, Bunbart was right, if we stay here, we might be tracked down easier, we need to get towards the cathedral." Lady Taluvien stated, while we all nodded and so our small group made its way into safety taking the body of the old Shaman along.

Infront of me the scene froze and the colors bleached out again until I stood back in a white room.

"I wonder what come´s next?" I wondered as I saved the seen in my mind, especially what Bunbart told me about the Sphere of Nature.

I now knew that I had to survive at all cost and I had to go with White when he would return back to his task of searching for the Spheres.

"But that means, that I will have to leave Red and Elh and the Shepherd republic, I have to leave everyone." I mumbled as colors began to paint a new scene, it was none I knew.

But it seemed painfully familiar..., familiar and sinister.

 _ **To be continued...**_

 _ **A/N: Cereus, Candor, Cinis and Creta are words in Latin, cereus means wax, candor means brightness, cinis means ash and creta means chalk, as some of you might know, is shiro the Japanese word for white, so all of these names have something to do with the color White.**_


	5. The House of Memories V, Concluding

**空とロマンス**

 **Sola to Romansu (Sky and Romance)**

 **Important side-stories**

 **Book 1:** **The House of Memories / Part 5**

 _ **14 Years ago, Clawstone, Capital of Valhalla, Chocolat´s Pov**_ :

Darkness, the smell of fire and burned flesh, the sound of mighty wings beaten, the storm like gust that rushes over the island.

A shadow of something huge rushes over the ground, illuminated by the burning town.

A Roar, ear-deafening and so strong, that it shakes the entire city to the core.

My blood froze as I heard it, as I felt its evil aura which was almost omnipotent.

I knew that this was the nearest future I would see in the continuation of this memory.

If I thought that I had already seen the worst the Lycanians had to offer with that beast, then I was not at all prepared to see this other thing.

We had just reached the Central Plaza, as I felt it like an ice-cold jagged blade, slicing down my spine painfully.

"Wait, something is here, something evil and powerfull!" I stated aloud to the entire group, as I was left trembling in terror.

"What do you mean, Princess, there is..., nothing..., there." Boka stated as he suddenly stopped dead in his track and rose his glance up to the sky trembling and sweating in terror.

"Oh shit." He simply said, gulping, as his eyes were glued on the sight above our heads.

"Everybody hide..., right now." He stated with a low hiss, as he dragged us, Banmori, Lady Taluvien and Bjearn to the side behind the broken walls of the ruin of a house, those who had gone in front of us hid behind the walls of another house a bit away from our hideout.

"I cannot believe it, what is such a thing doing here?" Lady Taluvien asked as her glance was fixed on the same spot as previously Boka´s.

"What is this thing?" I asked as I looked at this black winged creature with Red eyes.

All it did was standing atop the roof of the Cathedral but that was enough for the fires on the ground, to barely illuminating it, heaving it above from the darkness surrounding it, however the ice cold feeling it emitted spread over the entire place.

The evil aura was almost touchable.

" _ **A Dragonkin, a Ghoul on Level 9**_ _._

 _I´ve heard stories about it and it has been described in ancient history books and the list of monsters to avoid at all cost if possible, but that I would live long enough to ever encounter one of them myself, I never would have believed_." Lady Taluvien explained in a low voice, through gritted teeth.

" _This is..., a Ghoul_?" Banmori asked, as she paled more than the white spots on her fur.

" _Indeed, and the strongest known to Beastkind, its force is only rivalled by a Titano Machinae of the 2_ _Th_ _type, if we are spotted and attacked by this thing, I doubt we will have any chance, maybe only if we fight together as one, we might make it out alive, at least some of us._

 _But the way I see it, he will not make it so easy to us_." Lady Taluvien stated, as she pointed ahead to the foot of the Cathedral where other dark silhouettes with equally blazing red eyes, stood and looked around.

"Clong!" Suddenly a loud metallic echo was to hear over the silent central plaza, a sword had clanged onto a broken pipe.

It came from the group of Royal guards, which had hidden themselves, same as we, within the ruins of a destroyed house.

As response to the noise a black wave suddenly rushed over the plaza and destroyed the walls of the house-ruin.

Then we suddenly heard screeching sounds and could see how a horde of Ghouls came running and invaded the rest of what remained of the ruin..., all you could still hear were loud screams of pain and agony and the disturbing noises of the ghouls.

Before it was all silent again, all you heard was the scrapping of ghoul claws on the ground, as they returned to their position.

" _Oh no._ " I though in pure shock.

" _What are we going to do, if we aren´t careful we will be annihilated_." Banmori whispered terrified, as Boka held her in his arms.

" _I´m not sure, we are too far as to go back and we need to get to the Cathedral, otherwise we won´t be able to reach the Ursa Grande_." Lady Taluvien replied with low voice.

" _I bet this was the thing that took the Ursarion down earlier, along with the rest of our squad._

 _As this thing can fly, we need to take it down somehow, disabling it from following us, once we are in the air_." Pablo explained, as he thought about it.

" _And I may just know how to do that, but it will take time to prepare it, can you guys get me some minutes without me being killed, this will make a lot of noise_." He asked as I basically could see how an idea formed in his head.

"What do you got in mind?" Lady Taluvien asked in a low voice, after we retuned into the alley which we came from, to discuss our plan.

"We going to turn the night into the day." Pablo stated, as he gestured over towards a shop on the other side of the Plaza, it was _**the firework-atelier**_.

"You mean..., but that would be like a giant signal fire, just screaming, `here we are, come and get us´, won´t it?" Boka asked.

"Maybe, but if you have another idea, I am all eager to hear it...

Of course, I know that my plan has more faults than benefits and that we most likely get the entire Lycanians on the island on our toes, but if we want to survive and get towards the cathedral, we will need to take that risk.

Its no wonder the Lycanians have released these things during a Moonless night, Dragonkins have the strongest resistance against Light, but all the others are still affected by it, it was pure luck that our princess can feel the aura of evil and were it comes from." Pablo explained.

"Indeed, he is right, from what I know, unless they are exposed to different intensities of Light all at once, they won't be affected, their scales can always only adapt to one intensity at a time, so much we know." Lady Taluvien explained

"That's why we will mix strong and weak explosion, one after another and the end will be a long-lasting Star-rain, that should keep the little ones away, but as I said, to connect all of the needed wires and place the batteries, I will need at least 20 minutes.

Take these and strap them to your weapon, they are from the Ursarion, one each of them burns for at least 10 minutes, it will keep you safe from the lesser Ghouls, but be careful, we don´t know if this asshole isn´t attacking before I am done.

I unfortunately have no experience in fighting against a Dragonkin." Pablo explained as he opened his backpack and gave each of us two Magnesium-torches.

"They burn in a bright white light, do not look into it directly, it might blind you for a moment and that could be your end." He explained and we nodded.

"You are well prepared honey, how come?" Lady Oonda asked.

"After we were shot off, I had such a vague idea that they might release the Ghouls by night time, if there are still enough Kumears fighting against them.

As I said, the least of us have ever fight against a higher leveled Ghoul or against a Ghoul at all." Pablo explained.

"Boka, Bjearn, Banmori, I will need your help on this, Children you come along but stay in the atelier together with Banmori and Mayuri, we cannot know how more of these Ghouls are there, if you are near the brightest light, you might be safer than in a dark lit alley." Pablo explained and Lady Taluvien nodded.

"You might be right about that." She stated as she and the others thought about that plan.

"Alright it is worth a shot, as you rightfully said, we have not many options left to us anyway." Lady Taluvien explained and Lady Oonda nodded.

"Alright _**Operation: Night is Day**_ , begins now, objective one is for the Greyback Family, the Valkyries, the Royal Guards and myself to draw the attention of the ghouls, fight them with help of the torches, but be always careful, as we have seen can this Dragonkin attack with long range attacks.

Objective two is for you, Mayuri, Banmori, Boka, Bjearn, Princess Choco(2), Princess Anastasia (3), Seichiro (3), Sunako (2), _**Bukari (2) and Bachiru (3)**_ _to set up and launch the fireworks needed for this plan, it is crucial for our survival that they have to be fired but be careful yourself, it´s no wonder that usually only professionals shall work with pyrotechnics_." She stated.

"Did you just come up with that name?" Boka asked with a low chuckle.

"We got no time to joke or think of big names for our operations.

Let´s hurry this up and get ourselves in safety, got it." Lady Taluvien stated with a hiss.

"Ready your weapons." She stated.

"On your mark Pablo." She stated.

"Are the kids in your arms?" the same asked, holding his Son in his arms, while his wife had his Daughter.

Anastasia sat on Boka´s shoulder while I sat on Banmori´s, Bjearn carried both Bachiru and Bukari, _**the daughters of both Lao families**_ on his shoulders.

"Is _**Aunt Barya**_ in safety?" Bachiru, the oldest of both asked.

"She was with the hospital-staff the last time I saw her, so I highly believe she is already near the Ursa Grande, to take care of the injured." Bjearn replied as he gritted his teeth.

"She better be okay or else I will rip these Lycanians to shreds." He growled.

"Now hold on tight, kids." He continued.

"Everyone ready?" Pablo asked.

"1..., 2..., 3..., Go!" he stated aloud and so he began to run as fast as he could, while Lady Taluvien lead the warriors to confront the Ghouls, who instantly rushed at us in order to kill.

"Light up your first torches!" Lady Taluvien shouted and so they did, their weapons and the space around them lighted up with bright lights.

The ghouls instantly backed away on a distance hissing and growling at them.

Meanwhile we made our way over to the fireworks shop to do what we had to in order to survive.

"Its though a shame, these were supposed to be used for your birthday festival tonight, little princess." Pablo stated after he simply broke the door open.

The shop inside was brimming with shelves full of Fireworks-batteries, sticks, rockets, spinners and so on.

"So which one are we searching for?" Bjearn asked, while Banmori and Lady Oonda secured the door.

"Those with the name _Angle´s-Descend_ , _Holy-Light_ , _Golden_ _Supernova, We own the Night_ and _Silver-Star Rain, they are the brightest and most varied of them all and were originally meant for the big Climax of the Firework-show_." Pablo explained.

"How do you know all this?" Boka asked.

"My Uncle runs this shop." Pablo simply replied, as he searched in the shelves.

"I know I saw them somewhere here, the last time I was here..., wasn´t that long ago." Pablo explained.

"Might this be one of those we search!" Anastasia asked as she pointed on a chest, which was a little hidden by rags and paper boxes.

"Hmm, oh these are exactly what we search for, you´ve got good eyes princess, this spares us the hardship of searching the entire stock for them.

I knew he sat them aside somewhere for the big day." Pablo explained.

"I sure hope he has survived." He mumbled as he cleaned the Desk with a swipe of his arm.

"Whatever you are doing Honey, do it quicker, I think these bastards have found out about us." Lady Oonda exclaimed as she and Banmori readied their weapons.

"Everyone, take cover!" Banmori shouted as I was pulled backwards by Pablo, behind a shelf, as we heard ear-deafening screeches, hisses and growls.

The sound of metal being clashed against something different, was to hear and the ice-cold feeling, which the ghouls spread, nearly froze the blood in my veins.

"Dammit they dragging us in confined space this way." Lady Oonda shouted as she shielded herself from the ghoul´s claws, but was in return dragged backwards into the shop.

"Dammit!" She shouted as her sword ended up getting stuck within the wood of a shelf as she took a swing.

"Aaaah!" She screamed up in agony as the Ghoul punched her back., Banmori instantly shielded her with her own sword.

I felt how Pablo left our side, rushing forward.

"Banmori get out of the way!" He shouted as I saw how a faint light was illuminated before it vanished again.

A strange noise was to be heard over the noise the Ghouls made.

It was a joint that sizzled.

"Hey, Asshole, how about you pick on someone whose as ugly as you are!" Pablo shouted as the Ghoul ran at him with his mouth wide open, ready to bite him.

Before he however could reach Pablo, a bright line appeared in the shade of the night, swallowed by the Ghoul which pushed him backward out of the shop, through the window and up in the air.

"Chew on this, bastard!" Pablo stated as he Ghoul exploded in many pieces as the big firework-body detonated within him.

"Here have a taste, there are enough servings for all of you ugly shits!" Pablo shouted, to taunt the Ghoul, as the next rocket was launched, dragging the second Ghoul which had entered, out of the shop and over the plaza right through the door of the Cathedral, right over the heads of Lady Taluvien and her group, detonating near his comrades.

The scream which the Dragonkin emitted upon seeing his loyal men detonating and disintegrating shook the entire place around.

"I guess that made it angry, everyone grab yourself a battery and of we go, I doubt this place is safe anymore!" Banmori shouted as she supported Lady Oonda, who did not look good.

"Dammit, that bastard hit me right in the stomach..., I fear for the worst." She stated her eyes full of rage, wiping away the blood from her mouth.

"These assholes..., but as long as you are safe and alive Mayuri..., I can bear the pain, let us make them pay!" Pablo stated as he grit his teethes in anger and clenched his fist so hard they almost began to bleed as his claws dug into his palm.

And with this we rushed out of the shop.

"Watch out everybody!" We heard the shouting from the frontline only to see how more Ghouls emerged out of the dark lit alleys, some of them were usual ghouls, the others were mutated Kumears, but one each of them was out to kill us.

Some of them stood on the roof of the shop prying at us ready to jump.

"I won´t make it so easy to you!" Pablo shouted as he ignited his last torch, but instead of keeping it, he threw the same into the shop.

"And now, say Happy Birthday to our Princess and enjoy the show!" he exclaimed loudly, as the first explosions began.

"Everyone run as fast as you can, it was not really planned but this might be even more effective than my original plan.

However, am I sure that there will be extreme destruction awaiting.

There are about 100 tons of fireworks stored in that shop for the big celebration!" Pablo shouted, as he took me and Anastasia in both arms.

"Kids ignite the joints and let the batteries fall, I will carry you!" He ordered and we did as told.

" _Uncle Melchior, I´m sorry_." He muttered as suddenly an ear-deafening explosion shook the entire plaza, as the roof was literally blown off the shop.

The shockwave pushed us from behind and made Pablo stumbling.

"Oh no!" Anastasia shouted as the battery, who´s joint she just had ignited fell to the ground not far from us.

With horror we saw that it landed on its head, the pipes to the ground.

"Taluvien!" We heard Lady Oonda´s voice shouting and in a matter of seconds the woman stood before us, slipping her sword under the ignited battery, flipping it and threw it in the direction of the ghouls close to the entrance of the cathedral.

"Everyone start running this is out chance!" She shouted as she helped us up.

Without a second invitation Pablo and the other began running.

The sudden eruptions and lights did well against the Ghouls, who shrieked back as light began to illuminate the night as though it was day.

Even the Dragonkin screamed in agony as the different intensities of light were fired at it, as the thrown battery unleashed its fury up into the sky.

The operation was a complete success and it indeed made the night to the day.

"As beautiful as it is we need to get out of here, if the entire stock blows up, nothing within 600 meters will stand anymore, perhaps only the cathedral." Pablo exclaimed as, he ran as fast as he could towards the entrance of the Cathedral.

"Dammit!" He shouted as suddenly the Dragonkin fell right infront of the same.

" _You think you get away_!" It shouted in a gruesome and ice-cold voice, which dripped of malice.

If I ever imagined myself how the devil might sound enraged, this here was close to it, very close.

" _Those puny explosions will not harm me, you have to get something better than that_." It stated as it was ready to slice its claws into Pablo.

"Oh but you haven´t seen the best about if yet!" Pablo shouted with a grin.

"Everyone get down!" He shouted and everybody obeyed as they crouched down just in time as the most massive explosion, I had ever heard or felt before, detonated.

A wave of fire and light rushed over our heads, 5 centimeter more in the height and it would have scorched my hair.

The Dragonkin was helplessly obliterated, as his entire upper half was blown to bits.

However as I saw how the same began to rebuild itself, I had a flash of genius, as I stuck my torch in the still standing lower body with the dagger I was given earlier by Lady Taluvien as a Matter of self-defense, preventing it from regenerating, while simultaneously killing off the remaining Cells.

"Nice thinking, now you can say with every right, that you killed a Dragonkin, dear princess." Pablo stated as he stood back up and made his way past the disintegrating Ghoul-body, while the others ran after us.

"The entrance to the secret vault is underneath the altar, we have to hurry, this place will soon be brimming with Lycanians." Lady Taluvien stated as we rushed on speedy toes towards the Altar.

"This was an ingenious plan, this most likely will still burn for hours, keeping the Ghouls away." Lady Oonda stated as she embraced and kissed her Husband.

"I really hope our baby is alright." She stated in sorrow.

"I am sure she is, after all her mother is one of the toughest and most badass women I ever knew." Pablo stated, as suddenly a secret door was opened within the altar, stairs leading down.

"Hurry now, we need to get towards the ship." Lady Taluvien stated as she held the Entrance open for us to slip through one by one.

It was quite a narrow descend, but if you go orderly and quickly, you really can make a hundred people disappear within it in barely an hour.

Pablo Anastasia, Mayuri, Banmori and myself were the first to enter, Bjearn with Bukari and Bachiru was right behind us while Boka and two of the royal guards supported the dead Body of Bunbart, the stairs went far downwards into the innermost point of the island.

As we arrived at the Ground we were greeted by a group of Royal Guards and Valkyries.

"Ah Lady Taluvien we hoped you made it, it´s good t see that the princesses and all of you are alright, come on in, they eagerly await you!" One of the Guards explained as he opened the thick steel gates.

As we entered, a murmuring went through the present masses, while some still had to process what just happened, others already began to applaud.

"Choco, Anastasia, oh I´m so glad you are alright, I should not have left your side!" A loud voice shouted as we saw how mother came running at us, her eyes full of tears as she embraced us in a literal bearhug.

She nuzzled us to her side making it hard to catch our breath, but it suddenly felt not as cold as before.

"Thank you, thank you so much Banmori, Pablo, everyone!" She stated aloud as she looked up to them.

"It was an honor, to be of service to you my Queen, as much as I can see you too managed to accomplish something great." Banmori stated, looking around before she kneeled in front of my mother.

"Indeed, it was by far not easy with all the Ghouls and Lycanians roaming around, but eventually we managed to get almost everyone who was still in town in safety." The voice of my father exclaimed as he arrived next to mother.

"Yet I wonder about the other towns..., I really hope the clans had enough time to evacuate their civilians, before the Lycanians invade

Anyways I am thankful to all of you, you did an outstanding job, especially you Pablo, considering you aren´t a trained soldier." Father stated as he patted Pablo´s shoulders and pulled him into a hug.

"Thank you so much." I heard him saying.

"What about Lord Bunbart?" He asked as Boka and the Royal guards entered with the dead body of the old Shaman, which they quickly fetched from the corner, where they had hidden him during the fight, as the Fireworks exploded and the Ghouls were driven away.

"Unfortunately, he didn´t made it, this whole mess has been staged since the attack on the Skyriders Base, the Lupycan who survived was used as an infection source for their parasitic receivers, so it is to assume that nearly anyone who came in contact with him, was infected with such a receive.

It is better to get a throughout investigation on that matter, we need to round up one each of the medical staff who had been in direct contact with him." Lady Taluvien stated, her mine one of sorrow, but still she held her composure of not breaking down in tears, even when her fists were clenched.

"This here was by no means Bunbart´s fault, he was being controlled by Beowulf!" She stated aloud for anyone to hear.

"Bunbart loved Valhalla and its citizens, he would have never done something like this freely on his own volition..., and yet..., on behalf of my family and my dead Husband, I humbly apologize for all of the actions he was forced to do!" She continued, as she kneeled down and lowered her head to the ground.

It was grave silent in the huge den, all what was to hear was Lady Taluvien´s soft crying.

"Lady Taluvien, I..., and I might speak for the majority of Valhalla here, know for sure that Bunbart would have never done such a thing freely.

We know that Bunbart loved Valhalla, just like Valhalla loved him.

That all of this here has happened was by no means his debt, it all was according to the wicked plan of Lycan and his man.

It is to assume that he uses the same method, to control most of the Lands in Ragnarök.

He has not done it for the first time and it won´t surely be the last time that he uses someone of us against huis own people.

Please do not feel ashamed, maybe the Lycanians have taken this island over and have wrecked much destruction and claimed a lot of lives today, but we still have the majority of the citizens here in safety.

And the fact that most of us aren´t yet brainwashed must mean that they did not managed to get _**the information about Valhalla´s treasure**_ out of him, prior to his death.

Alone for this, Bunbart has already my honor.

And once we manage to flee from here, we will find a way to drive the enemy back out and rebuild Valhalla back up to its old glory." Father and mother explained, as he offered her a hand and helped her back up.

"Your Majesty..., I´m so grateful to you!" She stated her eyes still filled with tears, before she was pulled in a hug by her son, in order to comfort her, while she strokes the cheek of her dead husband.

"Once Valhalla has returned, we will give him a proper funeral!" The King ordered and loud cheering was to be heard.

But suddenly the entire den shook.

"Was that one of the explosion from the burning fireworks atelier?" Lady Oonda asked her Husband.

"I highly doubt it, at least not with this magnitude, the biggest explosion has already gone off before, as _The Big One_ , exploded.

It surely blew half of the Plaza away, no as deep as we are here, this must be something entirely different." Pablo explained, before a cranky old voice shouted.

"Pablo you fool, how could you burn down my Shop, are you out of your freaking mind?!" The voice shouted in rage, as an old man with a cane arrived, which he promptly hit on Pablo´s back multiple times.

"I´m Sorry Uncle!" Pablo stated with a sheepish grin as he shielded himself from the cane.

"Pablo is a hero, if he did not had the idea with the fireworks we all might have been killed by the Dragonkin and his Ghouls, which waited outside the cathedral for everyone who dared to try and get here." Lady Taluvien, Lady Sorelia and Lady Oonda exclaimed as they narrowed their eyes at the cranky old man.

"Wait really?" The same asked dumbfounded.

"Indeed, Uncle Melchior, and have no fear, once all this madness is over and Valhalla is safe again, I will help you rebuild a new shop." Pablo stated as suddenly a new tremor shook the Den.

"Whatever this is, we better get out of here, I´m not sure how long the den will hold out." He stated and Father nodded.

"You got a good point, I´m not sure that anyone of us is still waiting out there, and the longer we stay here the more we risk to either be found or stuck when the tremors get stronger and the exit caves in.

Alright people, it´s time to wrap this up, everyone, to the ship, get the Guards in front of the door, bring the injured towards the medical Station and hurry up with getting the luggage on board.

Pregnant women, Mothers and Children first!" Father explained and showed incredible leadership.

It made me truly proud of being his daughter.

"Mayuri, please bring all the Kids along Queen Tereza to the Ship, I will help the Board crew and the pilots to start the Airship and meet you up later, alright." Pablo explained, kissing his wife, before he saluted infront of Father and Mother, and quickly rushed through the masses, as we walked to the bridge of huge Airship.

White adorned with Gold, similar to the inside decoration of Jormungandr, and defended by several heavy weapons, artillery, machineguns and massive canons.

The people hurried inside of the huge hangar, while the board crew showed them their cabins.

The ark was humongous and had place for nearly 5 million people, as Pablo explained to us, was it originally build for a quick evacuation of the island.

But it needed at least 3 pilots to fly it, next to the Cockpit Crew.

To my young mind it was impossible to understand, what power and energy was needed to make this titanic thing move.

While I watched how my younger self followed her mother to the Airship, the colors bleached out again, indicating that this memory was over.

It lasted a while until the next memory came.

And once again everything was dark lit.

I heard screams, commands being shouted, red emergency lamps flared and a siren ripped the calm apart.

"This is..., how can they do such a thing." Mother asked with her mouth covered in pure terror, we stood at the window of our cabin, looking outside into the night.

From here we had a good view on Valhalla.

Better said on how our Valhalla was destroyed.

Red Flames razed this island, an inferno beyond comparison.

I was sure that in other cabins people must watch this as well, crying their eyes out, despairing, shocked by terror.

Admits the flames a gigantic figure was clearly to see, which indicated how huge she was.

"Mommy..., what is this?" My younger side asked, as we both felt a cold like I never have felt before.

Yes, even thought this was a memory, could I feel the freezing cold which this sight made me feel.

"Choco..." Anastasia muttered as she embraced me in comfort.

Just then I recognized that I cried and that my Hair was bright red.

"Bahamut..., I've only seen it once during the war, during the days as the Continent Abyssinia was scorched and ripped apart.

By none other but this thing and the rest of Lycan´s War-machinery

I´ve begged the gods, that I would never ever see it again..." Father stated in a breathless voice.

"What does that mean?" Anastasia asked in fear.

"This is Lycans personal Mecha, which means that he must be here himself, to annihilate us." Father stated as he stood there with grit teethes and clenched fist.

"If this thing is out there and decided to attack us, the defense systems of the Ursa Grande is basically useless." He continued and I think at that moment I pissed myself.

Suddenly an even louder noise was to be heard, it reminded me of the scream of the Dragonkin, only a thousand times amplified.

Suddenly a new siren was heard all over the airship.

"We go into defense mode, which must mean that we are getting attacked." Father explained as I looked outside, to see how the figure came closer, I backed away in terror.

Before I knew it I already ran, not knowing were to.

"Choco, no don´t run, stay with us!" Mother shouted as she ran after me.

"I will bring her back my Queen!" Banmori shouted as she ran after me.

I followed my younger self, seeing the people run through the corridors in a panic, she did not know where to run, just wanting to hide from the terror that was about to happen.

I don´t know how long I ran after myself, as suddenly the entire space shook and my younger self stumbled to the ground.

"Princess, please don´t run away, I know you are scared, but I promise, I will protect you whatever it takes, I will not leave you alone, I will stay by your side, until my last breath!" Banmori stated aloud over the sirens as she stood behind me, pulling me in a comforting hug while I trembled in fear and terror.

"Will we really die?" I asked after a while, my voice breaking from crying.

"I´m not sure, but I truly hope that that does not happen..., and as they say, the hope dies last." Banmori stated as she hugged me a little tighter.

"Princess..., do you know why I became your and your sister´s bodyguard?" She asked me.

"Because you were ordered to?" I asked.

"Yes..., but not only because of that, I did was ordered but I always wanted to become the guardian of you..., it was mainly because your mother saved my life during the war.

I almost would have died that day, killed by Lycanians, my family was nowhere to be found, she too was separated from her family, but she took injuries upon herself to save me, even though she did not know me at all, she shielded me with her body and smiled reassuring, telling me that everything would be alright.

It was her who protected me throughout our journey through Valhalla, until I was reunited with my family, which I thought to have lost..., on that day I swore to myself to follow and serve your mother for the rest of my life.

Even more so as she became a Queen.

As she then gave birth to you and your sister and was so happy about it, I saw the happiness in her eyes and I swore to myself to protect that smile, which automatically meant that I would protect you two by all means necessary.

After your birth I came to realize a certain fact, you possessed the same smile like your mother, so it was evidently that I would protect this as well.

I don´t know what will happen from now on, but I vow to you to keep your safe, until you will be able to stand up for yourself..., and yet I will never leave, my body might someday die, but as long as you live, my soul will be by your side, protecting you." She stated as she looked into my eyes turning me around.

Her eyes were to a hundred percent sincere.

"Alright, I will depend on you then, until I can stand up for myself." I stated to her with a smile, wiping away my tears.

"That's what I want to hear, well then let's get back to your parents." She stated as she took me by my hand.

"Banmori, Choco!" I heard the voice of my mother, I looked to see her at the other end of the corridor.

"Mommy!" I shouted as we ran up to each other.

It was to be a happy reunion, but as so often fate had another plan.

"PRINCESS, WATCH OUT!" Banmori shouted as I was pulled back, second before something almighty ripped the space between us and my Parents in pieces, the corridor behind us was also interrupted by something slaying it away.

Out of the remaining window I was able to see a huge silhouette standing right infront of the Airship.

"Oh god!" Banmori exclaimed loudly.

"Banmori, Choco, quick jump!" Mother shouted in terror, but it was too late, before anyone of us could react, the ground beneath us caved in, the corridor on which we stood was ripped out of the ship with a new claw-beat.

Alone through the use of Banmori´s shield-forces, we were spared from being squashed to a mush.

But as a result, we fell into the open night sky.

"CHOCO; BANMORI!" I heard my Mother shouting from the broken Corridor, while I was still in Banmori´s arms.

But before I could focus on anything, I came face to face with this mighty beast which ripped the Airship in pieces.

Bahamut, terror itself, floated before me and was ready to devour us, before it was stopped by the Cannons of the Ursa Grande shooting on it.

"Princess hang on tight, I try to Navigate us, over there, maybe we can use it!" Banmori shouted over the noise of the wind, as she pointed towards an emergency aircraft, which had been ripped off the Ursa Grande.

I nodded and held myself on her shoulder, climbing on her back, while she navigated us towards the falling ride.

"Got it, now we have to somehow get in there!" She explained.

"Which way was it again..., I've seen it before..., ah yes here we go." I heard Banmori saying as the cockpit opened up.

She carefully placed me on the seat behind her, strapping me on the seat, while she sat herself in the front seat, closing the cockpit again.

"Alright now to get this thing to work." She mumbled as she looked at the controls.

"I hope this works!" She stated as she used a key on the lock within the control board.

"Pablo gave me the same in case of an emergency, if he would not make it, I hope they are all alright up there." She stated as the Aircraft came to life.

"Are we flying to Mommy and Daddy?" I asked her.

"I´m not sure this is wise with this thing outside destroying anything which comes too close.

I think the best would be if I fly to the next Skyrider Base and ask for help, but first I have to..." She stated but was interrupted as suddenly the radio came to life.

" _Crrrrzzz..., Ursa Minor 3 please coming, I repeat, Ursa Minor 3 please coming_!" The voice out of the radio stated.

"Here Ursa Minor 3, Banmori Gongmeng on the controls, what can I do for you?" Banmori asked.

" _Banmori, oh thank god are you okay, what about Choco_?" it was Mommy´s voice.

"My queen have no fear, the princess is well and with me, how about you up there?" Banmori replied.

" _We are as well as we can be in this situation, but who knows for how long._

 _Banmori, do not try to get up here, this thing will only shoot you down if you try it._

 _Try to get in hiding somewhere nearby, you hear_?" Mother stated.

"Yes understood, I was planning to fly to the next Sky Rider Base and ask for help anyways, I might be a passable pilot but I´m in no way confident to win a dogfight with this thing." Banmori stated honestly as she navigated the aircraft through the debris.

" _I think the next best base should be around Aurora, it might be a way from here but I am sure you can make it until there with a full tank_." Father voice rang out of the radio.

"Understood, stay alive until I come with Reinforcement, my Queen, my King." Banmori stated.

" _BANMORI; OUT OF THE WAY_!" Suddenly Mom´s voice shouted, and as if on reflex, Banmori ripped the steering to the side letting the aircraft evade a sudden attack coming from behind, which instead let the debris around us explode.

"Phew that was by a hair´s breadth." She exclaimed.

" _Are you alright_?" Mom´s worried voice asked.

"Yeah that was scary..., oh dammit!" Banmori exclaimed.

" _Dammit..., what do you mean with that..., what´s wrong_?" Mom asked.

"We might have evaded the attack, but the debris that exploded has hit the tank, we are running out of fuel in a scary way." Banmori stated in desperation.

" _Can you reach some island_?" Father asked.

"I doubt it, there is no island in close vicinity and as fast as the fuel runs out, it would be a miracle if I could reach any safe place, once the Fuel runs out we are in big trouble, all I could do for now would be to try and find a place underneath us, as much as I know there should be islands underneath somewhere, maybe I can reach the Shepherd Republic.

I promise to do my best to reach it as safely as possible, it might be a good idea to meet there, if you find a way to get away from this thing. "Banmori stated as she began to descend the aircraft towards the ground.

"Understood, we will make sure to find you, wherever you end up, as long as you are safe." Father explained.

" _Choco, sweetheart, don´t be afraid, maybe it lasts a bit, but we will surely find you and then we will be all together again, just keep believing in us, you hear_!" Mother´s voice explained.

"Mommy..., I will be strong!" My younger self exclaimed, tears forming in her eyes.

" _I love you my dear, don´t ever forget us, we surely will..., crrrrzzzz_!" Suddenly the contact was interrupted.

"Mommy..., Daddy." I cried as I had to watch how my younger self clutched the medallion she wore, the same I had until today.

"We definitely gonna make it, I promise my Queen:" I heard Banmori explaining in the radio, maybe just to reassure herself, even though she knew they could no longer hear us, as we dropped deeper and deeper through the clouds.

The memory bleached out as this Memory ended.

It gave me time to reflect on what I had witnessed.

Valhalla had been destroyed by a massive weapon in form of a giant dragon, commanded by Lycan.

Now I understood the feeling of terror I had, as I saw the giant Claw which White summoned in the Battle at Basset and Airedale, it reminded me of this day..., a fear, deeply engraved within my heart.

The next Memory, was at least not dark anymore.

If anything, she was as bright as the first few memories I had seen.

It was the memory of a busy town infront of me.

I looked from out of an alley, Banmori next to me, clothed in simple rags, a hood over her head which shadowed her face, even though she had a longer tail and a slender build, was I sure that it was her, though she looked like a tall-grown Felineko.

Myself on the other hand had grown a bit so a lot of time had passed ever since Bahamut attacked the Ursa Grande.

"Are you ready, Princess?" She asked my younger self next to her, which in contrast still looked almost the same as before, just taller and a little famished I would say.

"I am." She stated with determination.

"Just as we have discussed it, keep your head down, people shall not see your face, they shall not recognize you, we do not know who´s the enemy here." Banmori explained and I nodded.

"Then let´s go." She stated as we walked on stepping out of the alley, instantly I recognized where we were.

" _Airedale_." I thought in awe.

While we walked over the market place, my younger self held her head down as required from her.

Maybe it was because she had yet to learn how to transform herself.

After all the specialty of a Kumear was to shapeshift, but without training this was impossible.

Banmori, as an experienced Valkyrie, was also taught in Magic casting, though not as much as a Shaman, like Lady Taluvien perhaps.

Still she could do it quite well, and to shift her shape to such a degree that normal people would be unable to recognize her, was surely a feature crucial to infiltration of a society.

Especially when you were the one being hunted.

The explanation, if anyone asks, was simple.

Due to an accident, my face had a nasty burn-mark, which I was embarrassed about and therefore I hid my face before strangers.

Of course I knew, that this was a lie and I had promised my Mother to never telling lies when I was younger, but if it helped that people did not asked unnecessary questions, it was a necessary evil to commit.

I looked around as best as I could, while Banmori bought the food with money from here, which she took off from some street-thugs, who thought they had an easy game with her.

The change in her shape, however, gave her usual fighting style even more agility and flexibility.

If she was already strong as a Kumear, as a Felineko she was even stronger.

The art of shapeshifting was complex to say the least, I did not really understand it myself, when our teacher explained it.

All I knew was that you had to be aware of your own body, meditate to feel every inch of you, then you had to reimagine it in a shape which was possible to turn into, a shape which was not so far from the size of your original body.

If you turn, like Banmori, into a Felineko, you have to slim down your body a lot, but as a contrast you then have to harden skin, muscles and bones, to match the force and durability you used to have as a Kumear.

To be honest, Banmori reminded me more of the Wildcatz Amazons of Shamballa, which Cereus told me about.

I don´t really know how long we lived in this place already, ever since we escaped from Bahamut, or how we even survived at all, but it surely had been a while,.

As much as Banmori told me, I went unconscious due to the extreme stress, as we were in midflight, shortly before she crash-landed the Aircraft in a meadow outside of the town.

It was a wonder that none of us both was injured during all this, but ever since we were stranded here, with no clue what to really do, other than to wait for any Kumear to arrive.

That is, if anyone has survived the assault on the Ursa Grande.

"What´s going to happen to us from now on?" I asked Banmori as we sat back in the alley we came from, after we went to buy bread and apples, some water and fruit-juice, as well as paper and pen as well as other daily supplies.

"I don´t know dear Princess..., but as I have promised you, I will stay at your side no matter what, so it will be alright.

"Thanks to those thugs we have money to get us food and water and stuff." Banmori explained and I nodded.

It was enough to live for a while.

But I knew that life was not easy, when you were an illegal immigrant in a foreign land.

Not only was the money we possessed worthless in this corner of the world, no we also had to hide from the authorities, who quickly found our broken and burned out Aircraft.

Not to mention that there could still be Lycanians or their henchmen on the search for us.

We had no real home and slept on the street, Banmori kept me warm when it was cold, kept me dry when it was raining.

To be honest I was glad to be alive..., but I never felt more miserable in my life.

I long gave up counting the days, but it must have been at least about a year and a few months, ever since we arrived here.

Communicating with the locals was hard for Banmori, but even more so for me, as the Language of the Shepherd Republic was so totally different, than the Valhallian Language I was used to speak, but she brought us through with gestures and pictures, drawn on paper.

We rarely talked to each other infront of other people and only did so in private, Banmori taught me everything she learned herself, so I was able to speak a little, but it was not enough to hold an entire conversation, or to even make sense out of the few words I had learned.

I often felt lonely and longed for my sister´s touch, my mother´s warmth and my father´s reassuring smile, that was when I embraced Banmori and cried in her chest.

She hugged me close and patted my head in comfort, never once she let me feel, as though I was alone in this world.

The reason she gave me, was enough for me to trust her blindly and lay my life in her hands.

.

.

.

Today was a really rainy day, and it was freezing, a few days ago it had even started to snow.

Back in Valhalla it was summer before we left, but that was quite a while ago, here it was now early winter, and today the clouds above our heads were really thick.

The market was closed early today, due to the bad weather.

We got us some food and drinks before and were just at holding lunch underneath a bridge, in a house made of metal barrels and cardboard, as we suddenly heard a loud voice shouting.

I was not sure what she said, but she sounded frightened.

"Please stay here and hide, I will look what's going on." Banmori explained and I did as I was told.

The shouting intensified after Banmori was gone and I heard several voices shouting.

Suddenly something fell in the river underneath the bridge, but I was not sure what it was, I was afraid of looking at it so I stayed right where I was, hoping for Banmori to return soon.

I lasted a while before Banmori returned, but when she did, she was not alone, she had someone with her.

"Choco, quick, bring a chair!" Banmori stated and I nodded, bringing said thing to her.

Our chairs were nothing but wooden crates we sat upon, but it was the best we had to offer as seating.

"Some thugs attacked her, trying to rob her, but she fiercely fought back with her cain, but as frail as her body is it was but normal that she was easily beaten, when facing a group of five.

Such cowards..., going against a frail old woman..., kicked their leader in the river, maybe he survives, not sure about it..., _not that I care much about scum like that, ganging up on weaker people just because they can_." Banmori explained uncaring and with a lot of venom on her tongue, her mine an angry one.

We often encountered thugs, and it always seemed to me as if Banmori just waited for such opportunities to vent off a lot of steam and take her anger out on them..., she tended to go overboard but she rarely truly injured them in a life-treating manner.

Not only had she and Boka stood close before marriage, no she also began to despair herself, after so long, with no sign of life from our family and friends.

With no one else to hold on to, desperation was the worst enemy to fight.

She was proud, proud of her family, her Fiancée, her position in Valhalla and proud to be of use to her beloved queen, but now almost anything of that had been stripped of her, robbed by the Lycanians.

All what was left to her was a little child which was just as frightened and full of desperation than herself, a circumstance, which was not able to ease the same in the slightest.

The woman which Banmori brought along was a frail looking old Felineko-lady indeed, who wore her hair in quite an unusual style, totally different from the way other woman in this town did, some might say it was an old and outdated style, but to me it had something peaceful and respectable, it was a testimony of the old times, someone who had lived long before today.

The Woman had a friendly face, even though the same was contorted in pain right now as her arm was injured, Banmori had offered to carry the groceries she had bought for which the old Lady was quite thankful.

" _I thank you for your help_." The woman stated in Shepherdian which was hard for me to understand, but not entirely impossible, I knew a few words at least.

"T´was... nothing." Banmori replied.

"You..., okay?" She continued.

" _Yes, I´m fine, just a little under shock_." The old woman replied.

"You..., go home..., safely?" Banmori asked.

" _Well it is still a way away..., honestly I don´t think I should go through the alleys anymore, I will just go to get myself a taxi, but thank you for your concern..., I would like to make it up to you, as a thanks for your help, so why don´t you come along._

 _I will let you sleep in my house, until the weather clears up again, it´s cold and wet today and unless you are yearning for getting your daughter a massive fever, I cannot truly recommend to stay outside_." The woman explained and I only understood bits.

"You..., offering..., us..., to ..., come..., with..., you" Banmori asked and the woman nodded.

"It.., is..., far?" Banmori asked, as she took a look at our belongings which weren´t many.

" _Well on foot it might be, it´s on the other side of the town, we will need to get to the main street, from there we can call for a taxi_." The woman explained, gesturing to us for understanding.

"I see..., okay..., wait." Banmori stated before she discussed anything with me, as I saw no fault in accepting the offer, even if it was just for a few days, we packed all the supplies which were left to us in a bag, folded the carboard house together and took it along to shield us from the rain.

" _Such a card-board house seems to be quite practical_." The old woman smiled.

" _By the way, my name is Grenadine, Grenadine Cherrypie_." The woman explained and suddenly it dawned to my current self.

This was the day we met the Director the very first time, different as to the memories I usually had about it..., Now that I think about it, I never even really know how I got to know the Director, maybe because I couldn´t even remember how I got in the Orphanage in the first place.

It makes me wonder why the other children, who were of Shangri-La as well, weren´t suffering from a permanent amnesia, like Red and I did, they just simply accepted the fact that they had a roof over their heads, never once questioning where they were and how they arrived there in the first place.

"Banmori..., Chocolat." Banmori explained, gesturing to herself and to me.

" _It nice to meet you, Chocolat, Banmori, well then, shall we_?" Mrs. Cherrypie asked and we nodded, she seemed friendly, and I felt no evil intent on her.

In case of danger we left a strain of hair dangling out of the cloth I wore, as I constantly felt cold and was perhaps not able to distinguish it from feeling danger.

With Mrs. Cherrypie leading we left our bridge and made our way towards the main street, where she called a taxi and let us drove to her home.

As we arrived, I saw that her house was quite huge..., for a simple house of course.

" _Welcome to the Savarin Orphanage_!" She stated proudly as we entered.

At first, I did not understand, but as soon as the door was opened, we heard the laughter and shouting of other children.

Inside it was warm and it smelled nice, after freshly cooked food.

" _Children I am back home and I brought guests_!" Mrs. Cherrypie exclaimed loudly and but a few seconds later, a horde of children arrived with smiling faces, embracing the old woman, each speaking over the other, some of them looked at us with curious eyes asking us things I was unable.

It was impossible for me to comprehend even one word said.

" _Children, children, calm down, you are startling our guests if you speak so fast and over one another, where are_ _ **Thea (11) and May**_ _ **(13)**_ _and have_ _ **Felix (15) and Percival (15)**_ _meanwhile returned back home from their work_?" Mrs. Cherrypie asked them.

" _Mrs. Cherrypie, Thea and May are in the kitchen and Felix has just returned from work but Percival is still gone_!" One of the children, a little Felineko girl of my age, exclaimed loudly.

" _Ma´am, Red, that weirdo, is still holed up in his room, he hasn´t come out since yesterday, not even for eating breakfast_." Another Child, a boy which was a little older than myself, exclaimed.

" _No name calling, Maxwell..., this kid, he will starve at this rate, I better get him to eat at least something._

 _You can enter, make yourself a home..., Thea, we got guests, please take care of them, I will look after Red_." Mrs. Cherrypie stated as she poked her head into the kitchen, out of which it smelled heavenly.

Especially when all you eat is fruits, bread and if the money allows it, sometimes a piece of meat.

" _Oh, well then I will help them to put themselves at ease_." Thea explained as she went out of the Kitchen.

" _Felix, can you help May!_ " The Girl that appeared shouted, she wore long brown hair in a ponytail, wore glasses and looked like a lovely older Felineko-girl.

" _On it!_ " another voice shouted as an even older Boy appeared, greeted us with a bow before vanishing in the kitchen.

My younger self was quite confused by this sudden change of tone but Banmori gestured her to rest at ease.

There were so many children around me all of a sudden that it left me speechless, especially as this girl walked up to us, bowing before us with a smile.

" _Good afternoon, my name is Thea, first off, you really need to take these wet clothes off or else you are going to catch a cold_." She stated as she attempted to take the rag cloak off.

"Banmori..., what shall we do..., they will see my face?" I asked her and she nodded.

"Just..., cloak!" Banmori exclaimed as she explained to Thea, gesturing over to her.

"Burn..., face..., she..., shy!" She continued, gesturing wildly to explain what she meant.

" _Oh..., she has a burn mark..., I see, well that's no problem, she can leave the bandages around, but you need something proper to eat_." Thea explained a little confused but also understanding.

As my younger self took of her cloak, I could see that her entire body was bandaged up, hiding her fur, expect of her hair which was dirty and felted, while she still wore normal yet dirty clothes.

Without a house to take a proper shower and washing supplies, it was hard to keep the clothes clean and intact for months, and yourself as well, all we ever got was perhaps a piece of soap, to use for about a month, every now and then.

I remembered that Banmori often apologized for the poor treatment she had to give me, often crying and lamenting about it, while singing the lullabies she knew, to make me sleep at night, when I missed my parents and Anastasia the most.

It was almost as if she blamed herself for the situation we were in, but without her I would have surely died.

I had to survive at all cost, not only to make the promise to my mother come true, but also due some other reason, back then I never knew why but now I know what Bunbart said to me on that night, that I held the Nature sphere, the Treasure of Valhalla, sealed within me, and that I had to speak _**the words of release,**_ when the time was right.

" _Hmm, I think you could use a shower, how about you take one, the bath´s currently free as we all had already taken one, dinner will need a bit anyways, I will tell the Director when she comes back._

 _The Shower is upstairs on the right, last door."_ Thea explained and we were quite grateful for it.

" _Let´s go, while there is no one inside_." Banmori whispered to me.

I nodded and so we made our way up towards the shower.

It was the first time in a long period, that I last have seen a real bath and I was quite happy for it.

Banmori helped me out of the bandages before she took her own clothes off..., I had to admit that even as a Felineko her figure was still alluring, most of her body was adorned in black fur, while here and there some white spots of fur were seen.

Grass green eyes, long black hair bound in a ponytail, she had a B-cup, long slender legs, a flat stomach.

Even in her Kumear form she wasn´t chubby at all, although she loved to eat cake in her holidays and days-off from duty, as she had told me some time ago back on Valhalla.

Black paws helped me to wash myself and mostly my back, as my Fur got cream-colored again, a stark contrast from the dirty beige it had before after all this time.

It was such a long time since I felt warm water.

"I could get used to live here." I stated to Banmori, as I took in the gentle heat of the water.

"Yes I know, I feel the same, but we need to be careful, we cannot trust just anyone even if they seem like good persons at first, always be mistrusting to strangers until you are sure you can trust them, that way you stay alive." Banmori explained as she showed me a knife she had pulled out from under her towel, out of the knee holster.

Although I shuddered and blushed alike, both due to the knife and by seeing her naked, I nodded in approval, she was probably right.

"There is no such time where you are more vulnerable, as when you take a bath." She continued.

We were just at washing my hair a suddenly the door opened, much to our shock.

" _Tsk, I was too careless, we should have better locked the door..., get behind me Princess_." Banmori explained, as I did as she told me, anticipating an assault coming.

However, we could not be any more wrong.

Instead of an Assassin or some other Criminal, a sleepy looking boy entered the bathroom, who rubbed his eyes, while walking to the Washbasin.

He had rust-red Fur and red-brown long hair bound to a ponytail, he had a scar on his snout and wore a red shirt and blue jeans, he looked older than myself, maybe he was 10 or close to it.

He was splashing water in his face, most likely to wake himself up, before drying it on a towel, it wasn´t until he recognized us sitting there, that he got a nose-bleed, blushed deep red and turned around.

" _I-I-I-I´m sorry, it wasn´t my intention to walk on to you two and to see what I had just saw, it wasn´t on purpose, forgive me!_ " He explained as he was about to leave.

He walked back to the door but hesitated to open the same for a second, he blushed but looked at us..., better said at me, right into my eyes, then to the bandages in my hand.

He looked into my face, while Banmori stood infront of me quite tense, covering most of me with her own body, just in case.

As the seconds stretched into minutes, I feared to hear an insult from him or something the like, but I was surprised as I heard his words coming out of his mouth.

He smiled at me with a radiant smile.

" _No need to be so ashamed,_ _you are pretty..., so don´t hide it_." He stated with a blush and I barely understood it, but somehow these words filled me with a sudden warmth.

His eyes were honest and full of feelings, off grief and sorrow, but also compassion.

" _Anyways, sorry for barging in here, but you better should close the door by lock, if you take a shower_." He stated as he walked back outside, not without stealing a side glance, looking at Banmori up and down, blushing even more, while his nose bleed endlessly, before he turned around and left the Bathroom, closing the door.

" _Red, were you just in the Bathroom, are our guest still inside, tell them that dinner is almost done_!" We faintly heard the voice of Mrs. Cherrypie shouting from downstairs.

" _Understood_!" The Boy´s voice replied.

" _Food´s soon ready, come eat once your done_." He stated through the closed door.

" _Understood..._ " Banmori replied.

"What a little rascal..., he kind of reminds me of Shuvra, when we were little, he always just barged into the bathroom when I used it, not feeling ashamed at all, just because he was the older one of us..., I miss him." Banmori stated, being put at ease but ended up blushing, as she recognized, that she hadn´t really covered herself through the whole ordeal and was seen naked by a young boy in puberty.

Who knows what for fantasies and fetishes she had just carelessly ignited in that poor boy..., still, she was disguised as a Felineko, so he at least had not been able to determine anything, my body was covered by Banmori and only my face was seen, so maybe he does not know how a Kumear looks like and won´t assume what I am.

Still Banmori blushed as she carefully covered herself with her towel, but just a second later, she looked down, thinking of her past and her brother.

"You know, Shuvra could be so dense, stupid, reckless and carefree at times..., but he was always there when I or any of our friends needed him.

He lead us on, gave me advice and helped me train as I applicated for the Valkyrie trainee-ship.

He wasn´t the best one..., but he was definitely the greatest Big brother I could have ever wished for..., it hurts to think about it, that he is no longer there for me.

That I won´t get to hear him calling my name, see him smiling, scoffing, laughing and bickering with me." Banmori explained as she began to tear up, while I hugged to comfort her.

Although I wished I could do more for her, did I recognized that my worry was not able to diminish the other feelings which had been ignited by me by that particular boy.

My head felt hot and my cheeks as well and I was still feeling the fuzzy feeling, which that boy ignited in me, as his glance fell upon me.

"I wonder who he is..., he feels so..., so real to me, more than others, he feels more like Banmori than Thea?" I wondered with a blush.

The moment he entered, not seeing us, his eyes were puffy red from crying and almost empty, as if there was some grief in his heart, eating away on his soul..., it made me feel that he was similar to me somehow..., I wonder why.

It didn´t lasted long before we were done, as Banmori was about to put the bandages back on me, it knocked, luckily, we now wore towels around us.

I still hid behind her out of caution.

The door was opened to a part and Thea entered, before closing the same, as she put a stack of fresh clothes for me and for Banmori on a cupboard.

" _These might fit your size, unfortunately we do not have anything different, anyways dinner is ready, so come down once you are done, okay_." She explained and Banmori nodded.

" _A burn-mark is nothing bad, no one will laugh, I assure you and even if, I will make sure they are punished, so if you want to, you can show us your face_." Thea explained, her voice and glance directed at me, before she stepped back outside.

"What did she say?" I asked Banmori.

"She brought us Clothes and I think she said that you can show your face, if you want to..., I wonder if that boy talked to her?" Banmori explained.

"..., I´m not sure about it..., but I think we can trust them..., but they might not understand..., I doubt they ever have seen a Kumear." I explained and she nodded.

"I doubt that too..., in the end it is your choice, if you say to trust these people, then we will." Banmori replied, looking at me.

"I think we can..., they share their home with us and their food, the least would be to be grateful and reward them with the truth." I stated and she nodded in understanding.

We quickly dressed, my clothes fit me quite well, while Banmori´s clothes were some wider clothes, a little bigger than her current size, but since we wanted to reveal us to them anyways, we decided that she might as well transform back too.

Surprisingly the clothes she was provided with suddenly fitted perfectly as soon as she became a Kumear again.

We were astounded to find out that the clothes had Valhallian patters on them, just as if the old lady knew exactly who Banmori was.

As we came downstairs and walked towards the chatter, we were greeted with a heartwarming scene.

Many children sat around a table and were provided with warm soup, bread, meat, Berryjam, cheese, warm milk and honey.

In a chimney burned a fire, radiating its gentle heat all over the entire house.

Once we entered the room the chatter quickly died down and an utter silence emerged while the Children looked at us in awe and surprise.

I still hid a bit behind Banmori, before I felt a sudden tug on my arm, I looked to see the boy from before, gesturing me to follow him.

I looked at Banmori and the same nodded.

Together we walked towards the table where he sat me down next to him.

"Banmori, please sit down, rest assure there is no one here to harm you." Mrs. Cherrypie stated and as if it was a wonder, I suddenly understood her.

"How come...?" Banmori asked the old lady in shock.

"I might not be one myself, but from where my home lies I was acquainted to several Kumears before, that's why I speak a little in your language." She explained.

"But how do you knew we were Kumears in the first place, the clothes fit perfectly?" Banmori asked.

"I saw the crest on your earring, it is the same crest, which Valhalla possess, if I am not mistaken..., Meiling once showed it to me." Mrs. Cherrypie explained, as she pointed at Banmori´s ear.

"I..., I don´t know what to say, Mrs. Cherrypie?" Banmori state as she nearly teared up.

"No need to be so formal with me, just call me Grenadine, and have no fear, you are definitely safe in here, even if Valhalla was destroyed, are there still some Kumears out there, that I assure you." Mrs. Cherrypie explained, while she children looked at us in confusion not understanding a word they said..., all but Red, somehow it was as though he understood, what we were talking about.

"How do you know?" I asked in shock.

"The Sister of my Master told him about it, saying that she managed to safe a big deal of Kumears back during the attack, and also as Bahamut attacked the Ursa Grande, _**she saved as many as possible, before returning back to her own dimension**_ , before Lycan and Bahamut could follow her." Mrs. Cherrypie explained.

"The sister of your Master..., who´s that supposed to be?" Banmori asked worried.

"Queen Panmora Savarin Pandaria, sister of my Master, King Maranell's Savarin Wolvenra, also the Benefactor of this Orphanage!" Mrs. Cherrypie explained and I saw Banmori gasping in sheer surprise, so much like I had never seen before.

"They are both still alive?" Banmori asked in shock.

"Indeed, they are both still alive and kicking, but I tell you about all that later, for now we should eat." Mrs. Cherrypie explained and we nodded, Banmori was still in awe.

" _Well then, we thank and praise the lord, our King, for the food on our table and the joy in our heart, joy to be alive and healthy, amen_!" The Director exclaimed aloud in Shepherdian.

As soon as the last word was spoken, we all began to eat and it had been quite a while since I last felt myself so warm, calm and welcome.

The girls looked at me in awe, commented on my hair and fur, while the boys stared at me with amorous feelings.

All but Red, he simply looked forward, eating calmly.

In that moment I still had no idea that this boy was to become the man I would later love as a Brother..., and even more.

The scene ended and the colors bleached out again.

However suddenly it got cold again, the same feeling as back then in Clawstone.

.

.

.

It was all wrong..., how could this happen again, why was everywhere I go war, fighting, destruction and death?

I didn´t want to hear the clash of blades anymore, I did not want to hear the blazing of guns anymore..., and I did not want to hear the screams of agony.

But I was unable to, I hear the clash of steel, the guns blazing and the agonizing screams, not sure who´s they were.

It made me terrified and whimpering in fear.

"Sssshhh stay still Choco, or else they will find us." I heard Red saying as he covered the mouth of my younger self with his hand as she began to hyperventilate, tears blurring her sight.

" _Why is this all happening again_?" I whispered in fear.

"After a year and a half of piece..., why must they find us now?" I continued.

"I don´t know why these people invade our Orphanage, but one thing is for sure, they kill anybody they see." Thea explained in a low voice, hugging May who crouched together, terrified as she had to see Felix dying before our eyes, shot by the bullets of the men, before Percival pulled her into this room, as the men were engaged by Banmori, who fought alone against 10 men.

" _Children you need to be silent, until they have left_." The Director explained, gesturing us to be silent.

"Will Banmori be alright?" Red asked.

"The question is rather if we will be alright, I don´t want to die..., this is all your fault, if you haven´t come here, then these bastards would have never come here either, its your fault that Felix is dead." Maxwell stated in enragement directed towards my younger self, which was already terrified enough, but with this realization in mind, she just wanted to disappear.

"Maxwell shut the hell up, this is no one´s fault, there exist such bastards all over the world, and that they came here in order to rob us and kills us, is something which also occurs in other places.

But that doesn´t mean that anyone is to be blamed for them coming." Red stated aloud.

"Haven´t you heard what that woman said when they arrived here, they were on the run from those men, so what makes you say that these people now, aren´t here for them." Maxwell asked eyes full of hatred as he grabbed after my younger self.

"Maxwell what are you doing?" The Director, holding the little Katharina in her arms, asked with panicked eyes, as that brat pulled me by the hair towards the door.

"Oooowwww!" I shouted in pain and terror.

"We might survive if they get to do what they came here for, if it is them they want, than they shall get them..., I will not die because of them." Maxwell stated with blazing eyes at me.

"no let Go, this isn´t our fault, Let go!" I shouted in fear.

"How dare you, you Asshole, let her go!" Red stated aloud as he jumped up and pushed Maxwell away.

"Stay out of this bed-wetter!" Maxwell exclaimed just as loud, as he punched Red in the face.

He was older and bulkier than Red and had a lot more force in his arm.

And yet, Red, not accustomed to quit once he had started something, did not give up.

"Get your filthy hands of her, you sick bastard!" Red shouted at Maxwell, I think it was the first time I saw him so full of live, according to the memories I had from our time before we lost our memories.

"You will not sacrifice her just to save your own life, Choco is our family, the only to understand me, even if they came for her, what makes you think they would spare us, once they find us, we are witnesses in this crime, there is no way they would not kill us.

So we should pull on one rope, instead of dividing us on two sides and trying to push the blame around!" Red exclaimed as he punched Maxwell.

"Kids stop it, don´t fight and don´t shout so loud, they will find us." The Director stated as she tried to go between us.

"I won´t get killed just because of you guys, out with her!" Maxwell shouted.

"Maxwell, no!" Thea and May pleaded him.

"She stays inside!" Red replied, pulling me out of Maxwell´s grasp.

"Its to save our Life, so let her die!" Maxwell stated, his eyes the ones of a madman, his pants pissed from fear and terror.

"I´m afraid I cannot allow that!" We heard a voice from the direction of the Door, to see no one but Banmori standing there, holding her right shoulder, slumping as her left leg was shot.

Her mine was one of wrath, disappointment and resentment towards Maxwell, which made him back away.

"I think I made them flee after I took out most of them, for now we are safe again, however I believe it to be unwise to stay here any longer, we better get out of here." She stated before she stumbled and almost fell over being caught by the Director.

"How could they have found us, we were so careful, no one but those in here know about us being Kumears, we made sure to properly masquerade us when we stepped outside." She mumbled panting.

"You need a hospital, instantly!" the Director stated.

"No hospital, if the authorities find us, we might get caught again.

The government should not be aware of our existence and us living here on Airedale, we trust you but we do not trust anyone else.

We stayed quiet and out of trouble and yet they still found us." Banmori explained.

"But you need help, quick, if not you die!" The Director stated and I saw how my younger self teared up as she grabbed Banmori´s bloody hand.

"No don´t die Banmori, don´t leave me alone, you promised!" She shouted in fear.

"I hold..., my promise..., little princess..., I will not..., leave you!" Banmori exclaimed weakly before she fell unconscious.

"BANMORI!" I shouted in terror, nudging her to wake up again.

"We need a doctor, a healer, someone who can use advanced healing art, anyone." The Director stated, frantically looking around in fear and confusion as well, looking from face to face.

"What shall I do, what can I do!" She asked.

"Grenadine, are you there, are you and the kids alright..., oh god..., Felix..., no..., why..." We heard a voice shouting from downstairs.

"Quynne..., Quynne hurry we have an injured!" The Director shouted in desperation, as we heard loud stomps on the stairs.

"Noooo, I won´t die, I will not!" Maxwell suddenly shouted in terror, his eyes huge as he looked around and grabbed an iron poker, which stood next to the chimney and slayed the same in direction of the door as a tall Man entered, the dead body of a young boy in his arms.

"Aaaaaahhh!" Maxwell shouted, as he brought the iron rod down.

"Stop it Maxwell!" Red shouted, as he caught the rod in both hands, tearing up due to the hurt, but managed to push him to the ground and the rod out of his hand.

"May, Thea, Percival, you guys need to restrain him, before he snaps completely!" He stated and the others did as commanded.

"Grenadine, are you and the kids alright?" The tall men asked.

"Oh Quynne..., Felix has been shot..., and Banmori too, she is unconscious, I told her we needed a hospital, but she does not want other people to know about her and the little Princess!" The Director explained to the tall man with the large hat.

"I see, it is understandable..., I might be able to help her, but I need light, no fear I have erected a shield around the house no one will enter here..., dammit I should have done that a lot earlier, this is my fault." The man explained as the light was illuminated.

Suddenly my eye went huge as I saw another Lycanian in the room.

"No..., nooo go way, don´t kill Banmori!" My Younger self shouted.

"No Princess Choco, don´t disturb him, its alright he is no evil man, he is a friend!" The Director stated with a soothing voice as the man indeed began to heal Banmori´s wounds.

"Dammit one of the Bullets has splintered, they are too deep, and I have no experience in such things, Ciarella was more well-versed in such things.

I can only get the biggest part of the bullet out but the rest might destroy her right lung over short or long, if they stay inside, an expert has to take care of them." The Man explained.

"Is there nothing you can do, Quynne?" the Director asked in shock with tears in her eyes.

"I fear I do not, remember I have never been good in healing such wounds, I am only able to treat simple wounds, severed limbs and the like, but something so precise and delicate, as to remove metal pieces deep within the body and near the lung, was never my strength, one mistake and she might die.

However, if we do not consult a hospital and a professional, she might not survive for long either way..., maybe one or two months at most!" The Man explained as he rose his head and took of the hat, under it we could see that he had the face of a Wolf, like the Lycanians I saw during the assault in Clawstone, but way, way friendlier eyes.

"No..., Banmori." My younger self whimpered as she cried in Red´s chest, who appeared behind her and took her in a loving hug, not saying anything, just comforting her silently.

We did not speak so often as he rarely came out of his room any way, but when he did he seemed odd to me, a little strange but lovable.

He liked to lay down in the grass behind the house and watch the sky between the high houses beside us.

Often he looked at the night-sky, before going to sleep, with such a melancholic glance.

Once I asked him why he did that, he answered that he did not know, but that it both put him at ease as well as making him longing for something unknown, feeling like he had lost something, somewhere up in the sky, that something was left behind by him, something of a past he could not remember.

It was the first time in ages that I felt, as though I had found a related soul, maybe he felt that way too, at least it would explain why he freaked out so much when Maxwell suggested to kill me off to safe their life.

Being close to Red strangely reminded me of Cereus, just like now as I laid in his arms crying while he comforted me.

Over my crying I almost overheard the faint voice talking to me.

"Do not cry my princess, remember what I promised you, maybe my body will perish but my soul will remain, as long as I remain in your heart, it won´t vanish.

King Maranell Wolvenra..., I beg of you, please take good care about the Little Princess when I die, make sure no one can ever harm her like this again..., she is the future of Valhalla and she must live at all cost..., I beg of you." Banmori, who got conscious again, asked and the Lupycan infront of us nodded.

"I will do so immediately, but first I will heal all the wounds which I can, this should give you 2 more months at most." He explained.

"That's quite a short time, but I am grateful for every minute I am allowed to spent with my Princess." Banmori explained as she caressed my cheek.

"You must remain brave my princess, even when I am no more..., Valhalla needs..., you..." Banmori stated before she fainted again due to the pain.

"Banmori..., please..., don´t leave me too..., what am I supposed to do without you..., Banmori!" I stated with hoarse voice, the tears never stopped.

Outside it was raining, as if to signal that even the heavens cried over tonight's tragedy.

"For now, she is fine, but she will need a lot of rest..., I think we should wrap things up here, I found a place in the Darven Islands which is secluded, I will see to shield it with an extra strong spell, this tragedy of today shall not ever be repeated." The Lupycan before us explained.

"Red, you´ve done well protecting Princess Choco..., I am quite proud of you." He stated as he kneeled down on eyelevel with Red, who nodded with a blush.

"Good job!" He stated with a warm and gentle smile and as I saw it, even I felt warm and fuzzy inside.

The glance in Red´s eyes was indescribable, but it was plain to see that the praise he got from this odd man, meant the world to him somehow.

"How could this all happen?" The Director exclaimed, as she held Felix in her arms crying softly, while the man hugged her in comfort.

"We were so careful, no one knew that they were here, so how did they found out about them?" She stated and out of the corner of my eyes _**I saw Maxwell tensing up and looking away, as if in shame...**_ , it was quite suspicious, no one had noticed it, but my younger self who looked at him through blurry eyes.

It couldn´t mean that..., did he tell someone about us..., no, maybe I am overthinking this..., he wouldn´t..., not when we explicitly said that we needed to stay in hiding, wouldn´t he?

"It is really a shame, the poor boy!" The man called Quynne stated, as he shed some tears as well.

" _His parents were good people, hardworking and always righteous_." I heard him mumbling and my younger self looked at him with a strange glance.

" _This man..., Banmori called him Maranell Wolvenra..., the Lupycan King the Director spoke about..., maybe he can help us..., help us return towards our comrades, to lady Panmora..., if we find her, maybe we can find Lady Taluvien..., she might be able to heal Banmori_." She mumbled unsure, while pushing her tear-stained face in Red´s chest, who caressed her hair in comfort

The Memory faded away and the next to come was brighter than the two before.

 _ **To be continued...**_


	6. The House of Memories VI, Reflecting

**空とロマンス**

 **Sola to Romansu (Sky and Romance)**

 **Important side-stories**

 **Book 1:** **The House of Memories / Part 6**

 _ **9 Years ago, Darven Islands, Chocolat´s Pov**_ :

It was still snow-white outside but the location I saw before me, had changed drastically.

It was not the backyard of some high houses anymore, but the house we lived in now was a big two-story house with a wooden terrace, balconies and a big backyard.

It was shortly after the previous memory, as there still stood some cardboard-boxes standing around.

The Investigation of the Incident in the old Orphanage was closed as an unfortunate Gas-explosion, due to a leak in the pipes and that Felix accidently ignited the same, as he illuminated the light in the kitchen, as he wanted to get a glass of milk before bed, which resulted in the gas exploding, messign up the room, the furtniture and the rest of the gas-pipes in the kitchen.

The corpses of the Lycanians had already been disposed of by king Maranell, as well as their blood, to not raise more questions than necessary.

Ever since his outburst and cruel behavior towards me, during this time, Maxwell was grounded for 2 months, not that any of us left the Orphanage in the Darven-islands at all.

His position in the group of children has fallen to the lowest of positions, as dead last to care about.

Red on the other side was lifted and praised in all heights by his Orphanage-siblings, for his courage to stand up for others, I stayed at his side half of the day, following him around like a stalker, while the other half was spent in company of the weak Banmori, during the few moments of the day in which she did not slept.

The new Orphanage was provided with food by the man known as Quynne Savarin, King Maranell´s Disguise here in the Shepherd Republic as my current self now knew.

I wondered how he did his disguise though, but considering that one of his `sisters´ is apparently Queen Panmora, it was not really a wonder that he had learned to conceal his true appaerance before others.

It might be extremely difficult to do so, but actually anyone would be able to shape-shift, with a lot of training though and the needed condition, after all reshaping the own body takes an enormous amount of _**spiritual energy**_ , the energy needed for all of our Spellcasting back home.

 _ **In Valhalla this Energy is called Esprit**_ , here in the Shephered Republic the same is called Nono, the use of Magic is almost unknown here in the Republic and even if, only used by a few, mainly the Paladin-Trainees at Mau and in olden times also by the Paladins of Ragdoll, as much as I have read in the books of the Orphanage´s reading room.

Quynne Savarin, an old Friend of the Director and the benefactor of the Orphanage, a friendly old man who always wore a smile on his face when he visited us and who was especially fond of Red, which the same appreciated.

In my eyes, if the Director would be the mother to Red, then the Father would be Mr. Savarin, and it seemed as though the young Red saw it the same way.

Today we were to get visited by two other friends of the Director and Mr. Savarin, they were important to come as soon as they possibly could, so the Directors words, apparently _**one of the was a Psychologist**_ , _which would help us overcoming the traumata we had suffered 2 months ago_ , as many of the other children were nowadays afraid of the dark, I can't say I was not, but with Banmori and Red at my side, I was sure nothing would happen to me.

i often slept either at the sid eof both, Red didn´t seemed to mind it and often even embraced me like a plush-teddy, nuzzling into my hair, it was strange but comfortable.

Outside snow was falling and the fire in the Chimney burned gently, emitting a comfortable heat, at least so it did to me, even 2 months after that night the mood in the Orphanage was quite pressed, even though no one wanted to listen to his rambling, did Maxwell keep on saying that it was mine and Banmori´s fault that Felix died and the more he said it, the more it became a truth to me.

Ultimately our arrival at the Orphanage did trigger the incident somehow, but until today we still weren´t able to determine, how exactly the attackers found out about us being here with the Children and the Director in the first place.

However, whenever this theme was mentioned, **_I saw how Maxwell winced and then looked aside_**.

I didn´t want to believe that he had anything to do with it, any I had no concrete evidence, but the suspicious behavior of him at least indicated that he knew something.

Either way we were finally safe, such was told to us by King Maranell and I did believe him as he spoke with such conviction, thanks to that, I was able to calmly sit at the side of Banmori right now, which had dozen off in an armchair.

She didn´t looked good, her left arm was still bandaged, her face an back was bruised and battered and she often coughed blood, everyday a little more.

The two months she still had were almost over, more and more even I had to understand the fact, that soon she was no longer at my side.

Which was sad as in the times she was awake, she and the Director often vanished within her room, closing themselves in, doing something we should not know, but whenever we tried to eavesdrop, all we could hear was the sound of a Hammer falling on an Anvil.

It made me confused, but she told me not to worry when I asked her about it.

All of a sudden, she began to keep some secrets before me, even though our time was already so limited.

That incoming reality was what frightened me the most, if she dies, who will I still have in my life, am I allowed to live here, even though my very existence endangers the other orphans and the Director.

But still even when I would leave, where would I even go to..., I asked the King if he may take us to Panmora Pandaria, so we could find Lady Taluvien or any expert of the Kumear-hospitals and healers, but he said that for the time being his Sister had closed off her dimension, out of security measures, to organize the immigration of so many newbies, as well as to hide them from the pursuing Lycanians.

This way he was not able to contact her for the time being.

And due to the higher altitude of Shangri-La, it was also unwise to take Banmori up there, it might only make things worse than they are right now.

King Maranell Offered to bring one of the healers from there to the Orphanage but Banmori refused, a fact I could not understand even with her explanation.

" _The war has already begun whether we want it or not, it might still last a while until it fully begins from anew, but the secret warfare has already begun, infiltration, kidnapping as well as the destruction of Politically powerfull elements..., to let the system, the structure of Alliances, collapse from within_." Such was what she said as an explanation, whatever that meant.

What I knew and what I though was what she meant too, was the fact that Valhalla has fallen, the Kumears, if anyone of them is even still alive somewhere in this world, have spread too far without a trace for me to follow, the only ones I knew where to find were this Meiling Pandaria, which the Director told us about, myself and Banmori.

I was barely 4 years old, what could I do, a little girl like me in a big unknown world, a sheltered princess who had never seen conflict and death prior to these days, if I am on my own, I would be dead in but a few months.

Even though _**Banmori taught me the last 2 years,**_ ever since we had arrived in the Shepherd Republic, _**on how to fight and to use elemental magic**_ , was my body in no way ready to take on anyone older than perhaps 8 years and my mind was still unable to process the rightful manipulation of the elements to cast even one proper spell, not to mention from the mental and physical strain it took upon me.

My only remaining guardian was dying right before my eyes, everyday a little more, until all life would have fled her weakened body.

Even though we brought a doctor, from a hospital here in the Shepherd Republic, to us, even he told us that it was futile, the damage was long done and trying to remove the shards now, might cause more damage than what already was happening within her anyways.

Looking at her made me come to the realization just how fleeting a life really was.

There was no hope for her survival anymore, so I decided to spend every remaining minute I could with her, like a Mother and her daughter.

Or a loving Aunt and her niece.

"My, dear Choco..., are you there?" She asked.

"I am here, by your side Banmori." I replied as I gently took her hand, with heavy sorrow in my heart, she told me a night after the incident, that she was unable to see anymore.

The King called it Post-traumatic transient cortical blindness, a choronological blindness most likely unleashed by all the traumatic experiences she had lately..., the death of Bunbart, the destruction of Valhalla and the death of many of her friends, then the attack at the Ursa Grande and the attack here in the orphanage and the death of Felix and her own injuries from the fight with the Lycanians.

All of these stressful situations and tragedies slayed so much on her health that she ended up like this, crippled, practically blind and close to heaven´s door.

I hated it, I hated the fact that there comes a day in near Future, when she will no longer be by me side, that I will be no longer able to hug her, laugh with her, spent my time with her.

She was the best friend I had, ever since my birth, the one next to Anastasia, Mother and Father which I could always count on, for me she was like family.

Anastasia and I used to playfully call her Aunt Banmori and it made her smiling, to be considered as special in such a way.

"My dear little Princess..., I don´t want to die..., to leave you alone like this..., if only I was healthy then I could stay by your side until you marry King White Savage, or anyone else you would have chosen as the man you wanted to spent your life with you.

A man worthy of you and strong enough to protect you and Valhalla..., but now I am never going to see you in a wedding dress, I will never be able to send you off with my best wishes down the aisle to the altar, I would never be a bridesmaid to you or Princess Anastasia.

I wanted to take care of your children, defend them with my life like I had defended you..., I wanted to be by your side.

It is strange, now that I feel my life coming to an end, I become so afraid of it, even though I always spoke lightly of giving my life for someone else.

I kept fighting my own fear of dying in order to absolve my duty, to act according to my own desire and conviction..., but now, now that I die there is suddenly so much, I regret.

I never knew if I had been a good daughter to my parents, the best I could have been to them..., I will never know if I was a good little sister to Shuvra, a good Valkyrie and bodyguard..., I won't ever know how it would have felt to marry Boka, or what kind of feeling it would be if myself would have given birth to children of my own.

All the things I hadn´t experienced before, I begin to regret that it is now too late for them.

I regret that my death might tear a hole in the chest and soul of many of my friends and family, a hole which I, if it weren´t me who dies, would try my best to fill up again.

It is as people say, you will appreciate anything you have and had, even more when you are about to lose it." Banmori stated as tears fell from her eyes.

I took her hand and squeezed it tight, holding it to my cheek.

"You can be afraid if you want...,I am terrified after all, terrified of losing you, you are the last beloved person which remains to me, losing you means that I am completely alone in this world, you have been my Guardian, my beloved Aunt Banmori and the best friend I ever could have wished for, you were family to me Banmori and I will never, never ever forget you.

My heart is in pain when I think about losing you, when I know that our time together comes to an end so apprubtly, I don´t want it to end so fast, I had so less of you while others had so much, that makes me so jealous.

Marriage, Childbirth, possible ascension to Queen, all those things I wanted to experience with you at my side, but now..., now that I am going to be all alone when you are no longer there with me, how shall I keep my promise of renewing Valhalla..., I am nothing but a little girl, who has just recently understood, just how big the world actually is, and what kind of dangers lurk within it." I explained as tears streamed over my eyes same as over hers.

"You are not alone..., you have the Director, you have Thea, May, Percival, Katharina, Millie and Vincent, Olivia, Alfred..., and Maxwell." Banmori stated.

"I can forgo Maxwell!" I stated with a definitive huff and without a second too late.

Ever since that night we did not talked anymore and whenever we met I was glared at, painfully shoved out of the way and silently mobbed by him.

I understood that Felix has been his best friend, but it was not like Banmori and I killed him personally or even wished for it to happen at all.

"Well, you still got Red here too." She suggested with a snicker and I flared up.

"We are just friends..., and I have Whitey anyways." I stated and she chuckled.

It was clear that she meant my current interest in the older boy, not only did he saved me and defended me bravely from Maxwell..., no he also cared a great deal about Banmori, whenever she needed something done he helped her out, when the other reliable men in the house, Vincent and Percival, were out of house or already tasked with various other things.

Red offered himself to depend on him, as a thanks for Banmori, rescuing the Orphanage and defending it at the cost of her own health and life.

"It was just a suggestion..., although..., you two would get along well I assume and you surely would be a cute couple, hahaha, cough, cough, cough." Banmori stated laughing before she suddenly had to cough hard.

"Banmori!" I shouted as I held her hand a little tighter.

"I´m okay, I hurts..., only a bit, I felt worse pain..., anyways to get back on what we talked about, as long as you have people which remember you, you are never alone nor forgotten.

I advise you to stay at Red´s side, not just because I think so as a good match for you.

Red is a good boy with a good head on his shoulder and even though he can act untouchable at times am I sure, that he will defend you just the same way I would defend you.

He has already proven to me that he is a fighter and defender, defending those who cannot defend themselves, helping them.

He defended you even against someone he has known all his life, you..., a girl who had been just a stranger to him but a while ago.

Even now he always watches over you, without you noticing." Banmori explained and I blushed.

"Wait..., are you for real?" I asked her.

"Indeed..., for example, I can feel his presence near the door right now, he might not show it directly, but he does worry quite a bit about you, maybe because he knows how it feels to miss something so important as family, home and friends..., he sees a familiar soul in you i guess.

The Director told me in secret about Red a while ago, because she trusted me not to act careless with those informations and in order to understand this strange but lovable Boy a little better.

It was back then after that night, as you followed him all around and he silently let you..., apparently, he is the son of King Maranell, the one you have seen back during that incident who heaed most of my wounds and injuries, the true man behind the disguise of Quynne Savarin, however, due to similar traumatic circumstances, which the director did not told me in detail, Red had to experience, his memories were sealed on his own wish.

He was brought here not long ago, to not only recover from them but also to be out of danger for the time being and to grow up and become strong on his own, but for now he hasn´t yet find the trigger to set himself in motion.

For now all he does is live a quiet life and to be honest, to many people this is already enough.

However, even though his memories were sealed, haven´t the feelings of them been lost to him, whenever he looks up in the sky and cries, his soul reminds itself of all the losses he had to suffer up in Shangri-La, the old home of the Director and most of the Orphans.

That the King comes often to visit in his disguise as Quynne Savarin, is partially out of worry for the Orphans, but also to see how Red progresses, how he heals slowly and how he lives.

Even though Red does not know Quynne as being his father, you have seen how much his words mean to Red..., he treasures them unconsciously as extremely precious.

I also heard about one of the tragedies the poor boy had to suffer..., he lost his first Love, his girlfriend, as she sacrificed her life for him, that was the reason why Red fell into coma for a month due to the intense shock and several other injuries.

He has lost many things, which his mind has momentarily no memories left of, but his heart never forgot them and it always reminds him that he has lost something or someone, an indication that these things or persons were really precious to him, that he loved them dearly.

I would be most calmed and grateful, if I could entrust your wellbeing, towards a boy who can love in such a strong way..., there is no way he is a bad person." Banmori explained and I remembered all the times Red looked up in the sky, with that melancholic glance and with tears in his eyes.

"I will soon not be here anymore my princess, so I have a last request for you." Banmori stated.

"What is it, what do you want me to do?" I asked and she frowned.

"I ´ve been thinking about this for a long time now, ever since we have arrived in the Orphanage..., and I deem it as the last resort I can make, to ensure your safety in this world, until you grow up, become an adult and find your family back." Banmori stated and a little I was worried of what she might request from me.

"I want you to transform yourself, either in a Felineko or in a Caninu, I would recommend you a Caninu form, it is easier as it is in a large way similar to a Kumear." Banmori explained.

"But how, I haven´t ever transformed myself before, you taught me much about it, but I never was able to successfully do so, before I fell unconscious due to _**esprit-fatigue**_?" I asked unsure and confused, she knew that fact very well.

"I know..., but what if there is a spell which can be used by someone else, to help a person to transform..., I will perform it for you, but this is only the first part of my request..., the second part..., I am a little afraid of telling you, but note that it is but only for your own good.

We need to ensure that you won´t fall into danger of getting kidnapped and tortured for the Knowledge you hold, somehow Lycan must have find out that Bunbart shared his wisdom with you, most likely due to Beowulfs influence.

Or at least gave you some kind of messages which is crucial for the survival of Valhalla and the world, after all Bunbart let us close our eyes and ears before telling it to you and Lady Taluvien with his dying breath, so it definitely was extremely important and confidential.

Knowledge must be protected and preserved at all cost.

Therefore, once you have transformed yourself into a Caninu, I wish that you can live a normal life, a life without the threat the Lycanians pose, in order to do that you will have to forget anything and start from zero, just like Red.

Your Memories will be sealed, until the day you become a legal adult, from then on they will resurface and when the time has come you will surely return here to regain all of them, then we will meet again for sure..., who knows, while I tell this to you now, maybe a future you is already listening to us." Banmori explained as she looked up to my adult self, straight in the eyes.

"Now that you know the truth, future Princess, you will know what you have to do, find King White Savage the XIII, and help him, it is clear that, if the Lycanians pose an even bigger threat to all of Tailsworld, the King will take actions, for sure.

He will have to undergo several trials to rise in his force, to establish his rule in this Archipelago and in the world, as _**a new Overlord over the Savannah Archipelago**_ , or how they were once _**called in the old Abyssinian Empire**_ , _**a Kaiser**_.

But for this he must have the alliance with Valhalla as well, in order to be complete, his trial of us, will be the finding and reuniting of the separated Royal Family of Valhalla, if he manages to do so, he has proven to me and hopefully also your Family, that he is worthy of being called a Kaiser, or at the most a King.

And if Red stays at your side and defends you until you reach your 16th Birthday, he too will have absolved a trial to gain my and your families Trust, after all he might one day become the King of Shangri-La..., maybe even of Lunaris in Ragnarök, if he manages to liberate it and free it from Lycan´s evil influence.

To do that he needs allies which can trust him and vise versa, and what's best than having back-up by some of the physically strongest fighters there are.

There exist _**an old Prophecy**_ which had been spoken long time before the birth of my grandmother, no one knows if it was told by one of us Kumears or not.

All we know, is that it was told to us Orion Valkyries and to the Royal Families, by Bunbart´s Family as High-Shamans of Valhalla, from generation to generation.

When I first heard it, I never really understood this Prophecy, but now I think I understand it." Banmori stated as she looked deep into my eyes, the eyes of my current self.

"Remember these words well, Little Princess, the Prophecy goes as forth:

 _If someone disturbs the Harmony of Sun, Moon, Sky and Stars, this World will be plunged into Chaos once more, and in our darkest hour,_ _ **when the flames of War are rising yet again upon the Free Lands**_ _,_ _ **the old Guardians**_ _ **will rise to quell the fighting**_ _, but alone their strength_ _ **will fail**_ _and thus the world shall turn to the Sacred Four._

 _Alone they can find their destinies foretold for them,_ _ **as prophesied they will be absolving countless of trials**_ _, one more difficult and possibly deadly than the other._

 _ **They will travel the skies and even cross the dimensions, over the course of their journey**_ _to free our tormented World, growing stronger upon absolving the trials and all hardships to come, they will gain all four,_ _ **Wisdom and Loyality, Courage and Power**_ _, and **shall learn from the seven virtues** , for in the end they shall stand before the Greatest Evil this world knows._

 _ **The eight deadly Sins and the Scourge of our World, Marohumt**_.

 _However no one can tell yet, if in the end victorious they will be, or if failing and dying shall be their destiny._

 _Cometh forth you four, for your time will come, rise to safe the world, pick up_ _ **your holy weapons**_ _and call your comrades to arms, for between survival and destruction, all the difference you make._

 _ **The Moon´s little star, the Scarlet Prince and his Crimson Knight**_ _shall arise from the crowd, which they had been living among, ignorant of their true destiny._

 _They have to step into the light, which has been hidden from them for most of their lives, a light they have to regain to become a new, even brighter Moon!_

 _But as a moon alone cannot illuminate a dark sky, **he needs stars around him** , but those he have to find and gather on his own, the more he gains, the more the dark sky brightens up!_

 _ **The Sun´s heir, the new King of Abyssinia and his scaled wings**_ _, although separated from his family and fighting battles far away from home, shall he regain his friends, his love, his dearest Partner and his path, and follow it to find his Ancestors heritage, a heritage which shall forever change his life!_

 _The Trial of Kings awaits you, and as different and difficult they seem, your Courage can pull you through, the wisdom of the 10 folks will help you to obtain a power you haven´t ever seen, but remember great power bears great responsibility._

 _ **The hidden Valkyrie, the lost princess of Valhalla and her Jaden blade**_ _, ignorant of her true heritage shall she find her purpose in life, but she must make a momentous decision, once the day of departure has arrived, will she stay with her Guardian-Brother and safe the world she knew and the one he has lost, regain what is lost and defeat the false king._

 _Will she go with the one she loved and still loves, entrusting the salvation of her former home to her brother, knowing that in his hands their world will be safe and prosper._

 _Or will she decide to live among her kin and to learn their ways and to become strong for both her loves, when the time has come to reunite and fight the last Battles?_

 _And last but not least:_

 _ **The tormented Magician, the Sorrowful Paladin and her Forces of Twilight**_ _, a Girl whose forces are for both, defending the loved ones and destroying the enemy, powerfull yet under-developed, once perfected incredibly powerfull and potential._

 _But are her forces really pure, when she herself is doubtful about it..., unsure whether to curse or honor her magic..., can others make the decision for her, or_ _ **can she find the answer herself, along the journey**_ _?_ " Banmori explained and it was silent in the room, this old prohpecy spoke about so much i had experienced that it was inevitable for my current self not to understand it.

"The Moon´s Little Star, the Scarlet Prince..., scarlet is another shade of red..., this must be most likely Red Savarin, King Maranell´s Son.

At least it all matches to his person so far.

He is momentarily ignorant of his true destiny as Prince of Shangri-La and possible next Overlord of Ragnarök, living among the crowd from which he eventually one day has to rise.

The verse with the stars might refer to people..., to gather people and allies which stand loyal to him, in order to brighten up the world from the darkness that has taken a hold onto our world.

The Sun´s Heir and his scaled wings, definitely King White Savage the XIII, I don´t really know what his part of the Prophecy means, but it will seem that he will be lost one day and has to regain his path in some way, his friends and his Love..., I hope the prophecy means you with that..., a strong ally, who cares a lot about you, is never wrong.

The Tormented Magician, the sorrowful Paladin..., honestly I do not have any idea to whom that part might refer to and what the rest of it means, but maybe you will one day in the future get to know the answer?" Banmori explained to my younger self, but my current self knew exactly who the prophecy meant.

"Elh." I mumbled, the description matched far too well..., I did not meant to eavesdrop, but I heard her and Red talking about her Brother Elhiazar, back on the Asmodeus this morning..., and how much she cursed her powers and her fate as executioner of the Rite of Forfeit.

"The Valkyrie, the lost Princess of Valhalla..., I am sure that this means you..., but I always wondered why she would be ignorant of her heritage and why you need to find your role in life..., but after I thought about how to make sure you survive long enough, I understood what the Prophecy meant.

In order for doing so you have to seal away your memories, blend in with the crowd, live among them just like Red, until the day comes where you regain all of your memories back and then you will know what to do.

But it is your choice if you will stay with Red when you are an adult, or if you follow your blood, means the Kumears if you find some of them, to learn how to become strong, a fighter, a Valkyrie.

I advise you to, if she still Lives, ask either Lady Taluvien or my mother to teach you in the ways of a Valkyrie.

I tried so myself but maybe you were still too young, or I was a bad teacher who knows, at least you know a little about hand-to-hand combat, that memory should at least remain to you.

And with the knowledge Bunbart gave you, you surely will find the path you will have to follow, someday in the future." Banmori explained and I nodded in approval.

Now that I was older, I was able to understand most of all this what had happened lately, but back then I was a little child who had no idea what to do, where to go and most of all, whom to trust.

"The prophecy commences:

 _Here at_ _ **the throne, where the silver sphere shines**_ _, you shall find the answers, which shall lead you to_ _ **the salvation of Tailsworld and of the Beast-kind**_ _._

 _With the time passing, you shall_ _ **find C.E.D.**_ _, who will rise to fight once more, alongside_ _ **the White Valkyrie and their Metallic Legion,**_ _to stop_ _ **the Dark plague and the Lord of Chaos and it´s Apprentices**_ _._

 _To save the Land of the Sun above and the Land of the Moon beyond the clouds,_ _ **the Nova Luna Rexio**_ _(the new Moon-King) and_ _ **the Nova Solem Rexio**_ _(the new Sun-king) and all of their comrades,_ _ **the new heroes, Queens and Kings to arise**_ _, will have to learn, of_ _ **Leadership and Endurance, Friendship and Faith, Compassion and Justice, Light and Wisdom**_ _._

 _They must take part in the Cardinal Trials!"_ Banmori explained.

"The Cardinal trials, I think Red mentioned them before, so his father..., but what exactly are they even?" My current me asked unsure, whatever they were, it sounded dangerous for sure.

As if she could hear me, Banmori answered me.

"There is an old Speech, which I heard from Lady Taluvien once, which tells about the Cardinal Trials:

 _Where the dark Turtle roams the waters of the ocean and where the fiery bird greets the light of the Sun._

 _Where the bright Tiger wanders the plains of earth and where the fierce Dragon rides the storms in the sky._

 _There where these Creatures meet, there lies my last gift, guarded by the Holy Wolf and the Platinium Knight, residing in the Void, to prove those who wish to reign righteously._

 _But remind yourself that you_ _ **have to sometimes cross borders to claim your right and the power for yourself**_ _, here in **the world of souls** , you must follow the path, brave every hardship and danger to come, until you __**reach the Throne of the High-Queen of Yore**_ _._

 _You who you shall wander in a world which isn´t yours,_ _ **regain what is lost to you, claim the treasure as yours**_ _, and to your world you shall return._

 _But beware, for in a world of souls, you will get to know yourself, in a way you would not expect._

 _Gather your comrades together and absolve our trials, for we shall prove if you are worth of the Gods' treasures, if you are worth to be rewarded with_ _ **the Blessing of the Cardinal Guardians**_ _and if you are worth to be called Heroes and Royals of Tailsworld._

 _In order to free those tormented souls under the cloud-sea and save the People in the light of the Sun, those who lead the rebellion must be victorious, or else this world is doomed to fall for all eternity!"_

"This surely sounds like a tough quest, however, I think this is actually a good idea, if the trials White has to absolve, shall lead you to the Cardinal trials then you should participate too, it could prove to come in handy to make the other Royal Houses of the Savannah Archipelago be aware of your seriousness, if you can at least brave one of these trials.

The Cardinal trials are different to the _**Trials of the Kings**_ , as those have always been difficult tasks to absolve, _**as every new King holds a certain pride and a different task for you to absolve**_ , some harder than others.

However, with the courage you gain through experiencing hardships and failures, the Wisdom you find through experiencing all the things, which this new life you will live has to offer and the power you will gain by training hard, fighting fair and staying true to yourself and the loyalty you earn by having faith in your friends, comrades and allies, will determine who you truly are.

What do you wish for, what do you see yourself as and what might destiny hold for you, becoming a Queen, a Valkyrie or a simple Princess in a big world?

I always wondered about it." Banmori asked.

"I will become Choco Gelatorias Garontrias, a Princess and a protector of the people of Valhalla and I will bring our Kingdom back and make it great again, if you stay at my side even as a spirit, I am sure I can make it." I stated and Banmori nodded.

"Anyways, dear Little Princess..., about my request?" She asked.

"I will grant it, I don´t know what I might encounter in the future, but one thing is for sure, I will need to experience it, whether I am alone or with someone I can trust.

I need to survive..., for Valhalla and its people!" My Younger self stated without hesitation.

"Then let me give you a gift for your departure, it is an old relic which has been passed on in our family since ancient times and was in the end crucial for the survival of the Gongmeng Family and many other Families from Valhalla, during the war of Sun and Moon.

It is one of the Three treasures of the Panda-Kumear Clan.

 _ **One of many other treasures of Valhalla**_ , _**who might be lost nowadays**_.

It was once thought to be passed on towards my daughter, if I had one, but as none of us, Shuvra nor myself, leaved this world without an heir of the Gongmeng Family, I have decided to pass this gift over to you." Banmori explained as she took a little box with _**a Jaden Magatama Necklace within,**_ out of her pocket.

"We Valkyries of the Gongmeng families main bloodline always kept this necklace close to us, as a reserve for magic forces, should our own run out, and as a mighty defense shield.

One each wielder weaved some of the own magic inside it, my Mother did so too, and now I will do so too, so that the magic of the Gongmeng Family keeps you safe, for as long as you wear and treasure her.

The Necklace is _**one part of a Set of Three**_ , the Second part will be _**the Jaden chest**_ which was _**kept by the Lao Family**_ , it is said that its most crucial moment was during the war, as _**it sealed the forces of both the Titano Machinae Leviathan and Behemoth within itself, through the Wolven-Lions-roar cannon**_ , for safe-guarding them.

The Last Part is _**the Jaden sword of the Pandaria Family**_ , maybe it is that sword which has been Spoken of in the Prophecy..., however it was most likely lost during the fall of Valhalla, same as the chest.

They were kept in the Citadel of the Ancient Bond in the center of Jormungandr, I doubt they survived the destruction.

But still..., if it is the sword from the Prophecy, then you will surely get to find it along your future path.

 ** _I will tell the Director to keep this Necklace until the day you become an adult,_** until you regain all of your memories and return as Princess Choco of Valhalla, from then on, the protection shall be yours again.

Last but not least I have another gift for you, however do I wish for you to keep it closed, until you are an adult and remember anything, I will ask the Director to keep this too in custody for you.

I am sure it will help you out a lot." Banmori stated as she stroke her hand over my head, petting it.

"My princess, my beloved little Princess, may your path, as rocky as it might become, lead you to a Reunion with your parents, may they recognize you and may you become happy, whatever path you will choose.

I will now use the spell i told you before, I have not much time left so please get ready." She stated as she looked deep in my eyes, before kissing my forehead, as i nodded.

" _ **Soles, danmen Rias denga Kumear, blesario no prisella regina, illumi ga Luce vero da pepito, danmen Rias denga Kumear, concola da pepito dan denga oeil siniestro**_. ( _Sun, you Guardian of all Kumear, bless our rightful princess, let your light shine above this child, oh you Guardian of all Kumear, hide this child from evil eyes_ )." She whispered and suddenly light emitted from the body of my younger self as the light of the sun fell down on me, through the window.

"It feels..., warm." I said.

"This spell can only be used when you love someone dearly, your own lifeforce will be used to conceal the true form of someone you care for and shield it from evil eyes, but beware the older you get, the weaker the spell becomes.

I do not know how long it lasts until you meet other Kumears or maybe even your family, if all luck is with you..., but one thing is for sure, returning to your form as a Kumear is not only quite painful, it will also release the concealment spell I have set on you now.

In short that means, that evil eyes will see you again, Lycan´s men will hunt you and he himself as well, for whatever it is they seek from you." Banmori explained.

"But..., doesn't that mean you use your last bit of Lifeforce right now?" I asked in shock.

Of course I understood what Banmori just said, but I was already hunted anyways, so it was nothing new to me.

I was about to back away after she revealed this detail, of her using up her last remaining life for my sake, but Banmori did not allowed it, holding my head still in a gentle but iron grip.

"Princess, I have long decided to give my life to keep you safe, if my last action is to do so, so be it, I will be glad to become your shield to defend and conceal you from the Lycanians, it is the least I can do for you.

Now that my life is about to run out anyways, I might as well give the last bit of it for a good reason _, so please, do not cry that way, at least a last time, for me..., smile my princess..._

 _My last wish..., is to have my ashes find a way back home, to become the fertile soil for a beautiful Cherry tree_." Banmori asked, as I saw how her eyes became more and more unfocused, the more she used up of her lifeforce, while I felt how my body became warmer, nearly hot, but not uncomfortably, ignited by the waves of life from Banmori, her magic and her love.

I felt that my body changed somehow, the sight I had of the world, changed.

"I will gladly grant your wish..., you will always be in my heart Banmori..., always..., I Love you!" My younger self stated as she smiled a last time, tears running down her cheek.

" _I can see it, before my inner eyes..., Your lovely smile..., I thank you for requesting my last wish, my little princess_." Banmori whispered, as her voice grew weaker, tears streamed over her blinded eyes and the shine of my body dimmed, letting me look the way, I looked until today, like Chocolat Gelato.

" _Goodbye..., Princess Choco-Vanil..._." Banmori whispered with her last breath, kissing my forehead, before her chest stopped rising.

"Goodbye Banmori..., I will never forget that you existed, the pain I feel now, it will forever remain." My younger self stated, eyes rolling over her cheeks like water from a loose faucet, as she kissed the dead woman on both cheeks.

"My future self..., if you see this here..., then make sure that her honor, her bravery and her self-sacrificing care for me, shall be rewarded and never forgotten, make sure a monument will be erected, to remind of the Woman who stood by your side, defended you until you were in safety, the woman who fought for you until her last breath, remember Banmori Gongmeng!" My younger self stated, looking up like her guardian before.

"Make her wish come true..., become a great Queen someday, a strong Valkyrie and a loving mother, a woman of which Banmori and anybody else, can be proud of.

Do not let her be forgotten..., and bring a part of her ashes back home, so that it can become a beautiful Cherry tree." My younger self stated, as her eyes met mine.

"I will do so..., and I won´t fail." I replied to her as the colors began to bleach out, all I could still see was that the Director and a younger version of Rose as well as Red entered the Room and comforted me, before taking me out of the room, most likely to seal my memories, i saw how i cried in Red´s embrace and how the same caressed my back to ease my pain with a loving and comforting expression on his face.

The next few memories I saw were of the time in the Orphanage, things I still knew and things I had forgotten, out of a good reason.

My first birthday in the Orphanage after my memories had been sealed, Red standing up for me as some kids in town tried to harass me, the way he defended me from Maxwell´s grudge all the time, until the same was adopted by a rich couple, becoming Maxwell Crown.

I was also shown some of the darker memories.

The day Red and I became even closer, after those assholes from the Kurvaz tried to rape and abuse me, the moment Red transformed into a Lupycan to save me from them, how he massacred them and my fright from him, until also that memory was partially sealed.

The bravery Red gained after that day.

Then there were also some sad memories, like when we left the orphanage and the Director behind, the way Red kneeled before her, giving her an hand kiss, just like he did before with Lady Burmilla.

I think this was the sole royal etiquette he just could not forget for some reason, like a natural instinct, taught to him for years, hammered into his mind and Body.

I saw how myself comforted Red, as the first time a Hunter-Job failed and he despaired, wanting to give up.

The moment Quebec took him under his wing and showed him the ropes.

And then..., there also was that Memory..., that particularly spicy one which made me shudder in horniness, the first time I had sex with Red, the way I seduced him, kissing his cheeks, licking his neck, stroking his exposed member, touching his hard chest-muscles.

The way he tried to resist until it was futile, as I took his hard member in my mouth and sucked him off, the first time, in my life willingly, let a man touch my body in such a way.

The way our bodies grinded together, the way his body-heat merged with mine, the moment I felt endless bliss as he came inside of me, panting and sweating, his eyes full of love for me, but also full of doubt for some reason.

Then there came the moment, a few weeks later, as I realized that I was pregnant, the doubt and worries I had.

I even relieved the days after I decided to forcefully abort the Child, the worst decision I had ever made in my life, the health problems I got through exposing myself to these drugs, the sorrow I felt after realizing that I had made the biggest mistake of my entire life, after Red revealed how excited he would have been if there really was a child growing in me.

The disappointment in his eyes as I told him that there was no child to come and the self-hatred, I felt deep inside of me ever since.

" _If only..., if only I had seen the truth and not my delusion..., maybe..., Red and I would have..., but no.., he has Elh now, I should not..., am I really that wicked, would I really get that far just to make up for what I did..., Elh would hate me_." I mumbled while the memories played of all around me.

But still..., I still cannot forget the feelings I have had back then..., as if I ever could get over them..., I always wondered, how a child of Red might look like..., I wanna know it..., If Red would love me..., even when I would become a Kumear, would he still love me the same way he has had loved me before..., would he lust after my body like back on that day?

Even though he has Elh, would he give in to the temptation, to my seduction?

If I would ask him..., would he have sex with me one last time, knowing that we might never see each other again..., and if I then would get pregnant again..., no I do not need to question that..., I already know my answer very well.

If I would get pregnant again by Red, I would definitely give birth to it, every child has a right to be born, no matter what everyone says, maybe I will be shunned and hated by people, most likely Elh, but I will not apologize for it, as it would be a child from my deepest feelings for Red.

But I was Reluctant, if I would decide to such a thing, I might destroy all the relationships I currently have here in the Shepherd Republic.

If I suggested that, Red would hate me, Elh would definitely hate me..., and Cereus..., he would be disgusted with me, that I am sure off.

Maybe they would understand that I still have deep feelings for Red, but they would not understand nor accept, that I would deliberately destroy a blooming Relationship out of selfish reasons.

" _Sex with Red..., once more..., it is out of question, a big fat NO..., but at least a deep kiss must be allowed._

 _A last kiss before he parts away from Chocolat Gelato, the Caninu Girl he knew and loved like a little sister..., before I become Princess Choco G. Garontrias of Valhalla, before I become all too conscious of my position and too responsible as to risk such a scandal._

 _Still..., I wish I had something more lasting of him, something to always remind me, that there is someone out there who thinks of me, especially when I am stuck in the dark_." I thought to myself, while around me Memories appeared and vanished again.

I don´t know how long I was already in this world of Memories, but I soon felt how the world around me blurred away, I was sure that I was about to wake up.

For better or for worse, one thing was now clear to me.

The Director was right, I was definitely someone else after all this, so much I had forgotten, so much I had now regained, but there was also so much which I would have to leave behind.

I had to follow the destiny which was mine to fulfil, a mission of extreme importance.

"The world depends on our survival, Red, Elhize, Cereus, lets make sure our future in peace can continue, let´s show Lycan and his breed not to mess with us!" I stated to myself with deep conviction and burning determination as the light around me got brighter per second.

My decisions were set..., for better or worse.

 _ **Red and Chocolat´s Room at the Savarin Orphanage, Darven Islands, Red´s Pov:**_

I woke up..., in that same room I had woken up so often in the past, with the same familiar sight, of Chocolat sleeping safe and soundly right next to me..., and yet, I felt that something in me had definitely changed.

I matured up more than I had before, I had now a clear goal before me, a mission I had to absolve at all cost.

I was aware that the absolving of the Cardinal Trials was necessary, for not only myself but most likely for other potential Kings and Queens as well, such as Princess Terria, White..., and Chocolat.

I heard the Prophecy my father told me about and it was clear from whom it talked, Elh, Chocolat, White, as well as myself.

I knew since the talk came up, that Chocolat was rumored to be the lost Princess of Valhalla, but to have it shown before my very own eyes was like a harsh slap in the face for me, especially when I remember how I always acted around her, most of the time like a complete idiot...

On the other hand I had forgotten what kind of asshole Maxwell really was, thank god that he was adopted a year after this incident at the age of 14.

I never heard anything about him anymore and that might have been for the best, otherwise I might have punched him in his perfect teeth multiple times.

I remembered who he was, one of Byson´s best friends back in our days at Shangri-La, he was obnoxious all the time and a lot of students had a grudge at him for his selfish and self-centered behaviour, always only siding with the strongest, as long as it was convenient for him.

The scene where he tried to Punch Helena to hurt me mentally was something I would never forget..., but also not how Byson intervened, taking Maxwell down.

He might have been a bully and a bad boy when he was a kid, but one thing was for sure to me now, Byson had deep feelings for Helena and even after she rejected his love did he not forgot about them and defended her whenever it was necessary and whenever I couldn´t.

I rembered how he stood infront of my hospital bed, with tears in his eyes, the day I woke back up from coma.

He said that he had hoped for me to wake up again, so he could punch me in the face, for not saving Helena with the forces I possessed.

I was about to let him as I felt the same way, before Lady Burmilla entered the room and threw Byson out, saying that it was the fault of the adults to have left me in the dark about such possible forces, as they were not at all acknowledged about them as well.

No one knew what forces slept within me, the least Helena or myself.

All what happened was a tragedy, but there was no one else to blame but Baion and his companions.

That was the last time I saw Byson, he was not even at the Funeral, but I doubt it was out of spite for me..., I think he just wanted to keep Helena in his memories the way she was before she died.

Haxel explained to me that Byson wanted to run to her aid, as she slipped through the legs of the guards and ran over to me.

He wanted to safe her, but the guards held him back..., his anger heightened as I accused everyone, of not trying to help her, to protect her.

At first he was full of rage and about to beat my unconscious body black and blue, only held back by Kangonas, before he turned towards Maxwell and beated him up instead, as he spoke ill of Helena and her apparently stupid attempt to safe a monster.

Byson was in love with Helena, that much I understood..., and that he was not particularly fond of me I did understood too..., I wonder how he lives nowadays, if the death of his juvenile love ever crushed him beyond repair, or if he managed to move on.

Either way, I as one who sealed his memories from her and anything else, had no right to criticize him about it, once I would see him again.

I still remember one of the things I did afterwards, I asked for my father to show me how _**the corridor-spell** _worked, which he had used sometimes to get from one place to the next, so also on that faithfull day, to bring us from the waterfalls outside of town towards the very center of Moonstone.

He explained that it needed a mark as an Anchor-point, to open a gate near this point, then you had to concentrate and think of that place strongly, when the gate then opened you just had to walk through still thinking strongly about it, about a connection between the place you are and the place you want to be, the magic does the rest.

So many new things were shown to me in these last few hours which surely felt like a lifetime of experiences to me, I learned magic I would have otherwise never thought to be possible, details I had forgotten and those I still remembered but never truly knew what to do with them.

I saw how I arrived in the Orphanage with no memories of my past, how I struggled to get a good start in life.

I remembered the first day I met Princess Choco and her Guardian Banmori Gongmeng.

I especially remembered how I accidently barged into the Bathroom, half-asleep, as they were bathing..., a beautiful Felineko woman was standing before me, fully naked, with some of the hottest curves, a tall built with long slender legs and a beautiful face.

Overall, she was gorgeous to look at and I remembered how little Red got all horny from seeing her and the night after began to jack off for the first time in his new life.

I think at that moment my old fetish ignited from anew..., Felinekos, even when just as a disguise for a Kumear, sure are hot.

Another detail I remembered was how beautiful Choco looked like, after she took of her bandages around her face.

That beautiful pale-cream-colored fur she possessed, which was almost but not yet white, those beautiful purple eyes, the cute nose and her sweet round ears.

Even as a Kumear she was lovable.

Another Memory showed me the attack on the orphanage, the death of Felix, the brave fighting of Banmori to safe the rest of us, the accusations of Maxwell and his maltreating of Chocolat as she still was a Kumear, how my younger self tried to protect her from him and how Banmori after defeating the enemy arrived wounded and badly hurt, trying to quell the fighting of Maxwell and me, but collapsing before she could do so.

I remembered how Quynne Savarin, my father in disguise arrived and took care of nearly all the wounds, which Banmori had suffered during the battle.

I remembered how she refused to go to a hospital, in order to let as less people as possible know about the existence of the Princess and she requested from my father to keep Princess Choco safe when she died.

I remember the last moment I saw Banmori alive, as I brought her a plate with food, Choco sleeping at her side..., how she asked a favour of me, to stay at Choco´s side as a friend and to look out for her a little, to be her emotional support in times in the far future.

I remembered how I kneeled before her and without hesitation answered her, that I would keep Choco safe for as long as it was necessary, that I would vow this to her, who fought and risked her life for all of us.

That was just moments before she spoke with Choco a last time, before she died.

As I entered the room afterwards, along with the Director and a young Rose, I witnessed how the Choco I had known had completely changed her appearance to a Caninu..., I felt how I suddenly was conflicted with my vow to Banmori, as I suddenly felt far more than mere friendly feelings for the new born Chocolat Gelato.

I fell in love at first sight with her.

But I understood that she was not meant for me, she still was a Princess from far, far away and that she was in love with a boy called Cereus Melizera, White´s true name, as I now know, that she longed to see him again.

It was not long after, as also my memories of the incident which robbed us of one member of our family and a dear friend, had been sealed by Rose.

From then on Chocolat and I lived together as friends and later as adoptive siblings.

My vow to Banmori was fulfilled diligently without me truly knowing about it anymore.

However I also witnessed how I often went to Banmori´s grave and prayed, feeling deep gratitude for some reason.

To me and others, it was the same unexplainable quirk I had, similar to all the times, when I watched the sky, during the day and the night.

I remembered the sorrow I felt as I left the Orphanage together with Chocolat, who begged to be able to stay at my side, instead of staying in the orphanage, where it was at least safe.

I witnessed how she persuaded the Director who at first refused to let her go as well, saying that it was not so safe outside, as she might think.

But Chocolat had always been stubborn and in the end she got her will.

We said our goodbyes to our friends, to the Director and to my Father, who spoke a spell upon us, to keep us safe and alive out there, telling us that whether we would go, we would never be alone, there would always be someone looking out for them and as long as we would keep on believing in it, this would remain.

In hindsight he meant that there was always some of his men hiding in the shadows, wherever we went, in order to keep us safe.

And then..., yes, then came that particular Memory.

The fulfilment of my love for Chocolat.

The day I lost my virginity on her, one year after we left the orphanage.

The way she looked, her rose-colored body beneath me on the bed, all naked.

My crumbling ability to resist the temptation and her seduction.

The moment I tasted her hot kisses on my lips, the way I licked her body all over and the feeling as my erect member penetrated her hot folds and deflowered her, the cry in agony and pleasure alike which she tried to muffle by burying her face in my chest.

The horny moaning as we had sex for the first time in our lives, the incredible bliss I felt as I came inside of her, with her moaning my name up to the moon, as I took her from behind, caressed her body and fondled her breasts.

The bliss I felt as we finished the morning after, messing around the whole previous night through.

It was wrong, not meant to be, but it happened and I had to take responsibility, so much I knew, I tried my best to earn enough money with the few jobs I managed to get, from simple ones to dangerous, working night and day, working myself to the bone.

Until nearly three weeks were over ever since that night, as I found Chocolat on the ground of the old garage, which we called our home, intense pain in her stomach, blood flowing whenever she peed.

I literally freaked out as I, several days later found the abortion pills in the garbage, of course I wished she would have kept the child, but I was none to force her to stay with that decision, it was her own choice to make after all.

However I was shocked, enraged to find out that she did this behind my back, that she literally played with her own health to erase my child.

But more so, that she lied so meanly in my face, saying that she did not got pregnant at all, and that she just poisoned her stomach with something bad which she ate.

At first I was inertly furious, thinking that she never loved me in such a way, that bearing my child was unthinkable for her, that she hated the thought of giving birth to my child, that the entire night we had, had been just due to the mating season taking our minds, that the devil made her do it.

To me it was as though she was saying, that she hated me as well.

Out of spite, after she asked me why I avoided her, why I was loading myself with work to stay away, somedays even for days, I explained to her that I wanted to buy a house, so that, if she would be pregnant, she would be able to give birth in a proper home instead of in an old, dusty, oily garage.

The moment I spoke these words, sugarcoating them as much as possible with the actual venom I felt under the surface, I saw how she inertly died, her eyes lost their shine, it was as if for a second all life left her.

Then she cried, saying that she was not Pregnant, that she already did the test.

As I said before at first I was furious with her, but I quickly realized that having taken that decision hurted her, incredibly.

It was plain to see that she did not aborted the Child out of spite, but because she believed it to be the only solution to keep our life together, especially since we were nearly living on the street and since she was barely a child herself.

I heard her saying to herself, that one day we might fall in love with someone else and our lives would part from each other, that binding me to her in such a way, with a child from me, was not what she wanted to do to me.

Honestly I was confused, conflicted and convinced that such a thing as us to mate again, should never happen again.

Chocolat was convinced that I would not be able to love her nor the child like a father does..., but she never knew that I was more than ready for that.

Delusions and misunderstandings forced her to play with her health in such a way and it made me miserable.

I told myself that I should never let something similar happen again.

Maybe that was why I was so angry as she slept with White..., if he would have gotten her pregnant..., would she have aborted the child out of the believe that it was for his sake as well..., to not bind him at her, if he had to return to his folk.

If there was nothing more than a one-time thing between her and us, out of which nothing happens, we would not be so bound to her, such was her conviction.

She never truly considered how we would feel, that maybe we wanted to have something more with her, than just the memories of having spent a night with her.

I would have wanted to raise a child with Chocolat, I can say that with all of my conviction.

But it was never meant to be me, such I now know.

Out of the memories I had of my school-time, I knew that Kumears were quite serious with promises given and as much as Princess Choco once told my younger self, had White also promised to marry her, once she was an adult, to her own mother.

He was meant for her and vise versa, such I now know.

Also had I Elhize anyways, I loved my fierce little Paladin, just the way she showed me how much she loved me, ever since she decided not to be able to sacrifice me in a ritual, which would have saved the world, if it all would have depended on it.

She chose me over the wellbeing of everyone, is there any stronger evidence of love?

I would not want her to hate me, so I told myself to never do something which would result in exactly that, so I vow that I will never cheat on her.

No matter how many nice woman and girls will come at me, I will stay faithful, no matter what will happen.

"Elh is the only one for me." I mumbled as I sat up in the bed.

The sun was about to set, so soon it would be night, I doubt that we will pierce the fog of the Devil´s throat today, maybe tomorrow.

Now that I know anything I wanted to know, I was a lot readier to take on the Lycanians.

As _**an Ancient**_ , it was my duty to see that this world was to survive, no matter whom I had to fight.

For _**the world** **as I know it**_ , is in reality far bigger than I originally thought.

Once My father and Shiro Melizera, the first White Savage, saved _**the old world, the broken Supercontinent Elysia**_ , from _**Marohumt and his kin**_ **.**

But the World, Elysia, had already existed several thousands of years before that time, **_the first High-King of the World, King Elias of the Elyan_** , kept the piece of the world for Millenia as a never-changing beacon of hope and light in an ever-changing environment.

One constant in a world which changed every ten years greatly.

 ** _He and his folk_ **lived peaceful in coexistence with many other folks until he was betrayed by his own brother, who had fallen victim to the so called seven Deadly sins, but he himself became _**an eight one, the one who seeks glory above all else**_.

Most likely _**the eight of the deadly sins**_ from the prophecy, **_after all no one knows **if he died or survived during the era of the belligerent states** ,_** if he survived he might still live today, as the Elyan was a race of long-living Lizard-like people, the conspecifics of the Repturui, I did not know much about them, just what I read in books in the royal Library.

I did not wanted to ever fall so low as to give in to anger, greed or whatever there were, that was for sure..., so I had to keep in mind that what I have to do, has to be done for others rather than just myself, for the peace of the world and for my famly and friends as well.

I wanted to live in a peaceful world, just like all those I know too, knowing that it make the decision, to act against all the threats which arised lately, a lot easier.

I was an ancient, **_a soul which gets reborn over and over again within a new being_** , although a new person, do some memories of the previous life remain.

In my case it was the memory of how my father, Quynne Savarin Shiro Melizera and other Kings of the united Kingdoms of Sun and Moon fought against Marohumt, before the golden Era truly began.

An era of peace, built on the sacrifice of many people, a high price was paid to fulfill the wish for peace and in the end the only one to survive it, were 3 out of 30 people who once fled the facility of Armenia.

3 of 9, who once arrived at the house in the mountains.

Quynne Savarin, Panmora Pandaria and Genma Savarin

And the way things stood, these 3 might become only 2 in near future, when my Father dies.

Shiro Melizera, Arcana Melizera, Ciarella Savarin, these three had already died and might have been reborn, in Cereus Melizera, Choco-Vanil G. Garontrias and Elhize Melizee.

If my father dies..., I was to take his position and part of his memories within me, just as it already happens, whenever I lose control over my anger, same as the memories of this other being, how did Carmine called it, Remulus I think.

But the stronger I get the weaker my father seems to become, just as if two ancients with the same soul fragments cannot live at the same time for too long..., still..., will I truly be able to shoulder the weight of the world upon mine and the shoulders of my friends?

If this prophecy has to be fulfilled then Elhize, Choco, Cereus as well as myself will need to give it our all, but to do so we have to become a lot stronger.

One each of us, we came so far, but we won´t give up halfway, after all we had to sacrifice or what sacrificed itself for our sake.

With no more fear within our hearts before an unknown fate we had to stand up and face our destiny.

Choco and I have done so and I am sure that Elhize and Cereus will do so as well some day.

But for now, we should prepare ourselves on surviving and fighting the battles here in the republic.

" _Until my home is safe, I won´t be able to venture out and safe the rest of the world, that much is clear_." I mumbled as I sat on the bed, looking towards the desk on the other side of the room, a dusty old photograph was to see on it, a picture of all the children of the Orphanage together with the director, Choco and Banmori as well as myself, most likely taken by my Father.

It was to a time as Felix was still alive, before that tragedy happened.

"Hmmm, Red..., are you already awake?" I heard it next to me as the grip on my hand loosened up a bit.

"Yeah just a couple of minutes ago, how about you, not too many Nightmarish Memories?" I asked her.

"A few, they were quite scary I admit, but I was glad to be older before I witnessed them, I think if I had kept them as a child, I would have not become who I am today." Chocolat explained.

"I guess you are right, sometimes you must loose something to gain even more, such is the way of evolution." I mused.

"How phylosophical, I barely know you like this, Brother." Chocolat teased me.

"Anyways, how am I supposed to adress you now, Chocolat my dear little sister, or your Highness Princess Choco?" I asked.

"..., for the time being I am still Chocolat Gelato, until I at least decide to return to my old form and take on my responsibilities which will be in a short while now, I have left my folk waiting for far too long.

I guess it is time for me to return at their side..., but this means that I will have to part from yours..., that thought kind of scares me the most." Chocolat explained as she leaned at my shoulder.

"I know..., but we did talked about it, if one of us finds his or her family, we will let them go, if living together becomes unable for the other one.

I doubt that the Kumears would like me with you guys, at least not all the time, and I would kind of find it sad to be the only Caninu/Lupycan under all those Kumears, which shall live in the Gaya Republic.

Maybe Queen Pandaria might be happy to see me, as I am the son of her Brother, her nephew in a way, but that might be all, your family has made it quite clear to me where you belong and I think this is for the best.

You an I, we come from different places, we were allowed to stay for 11 years together..., that should be all we can ask for, it was pure coincidence, or some kind of higher power which has brought us together after all.

If Valhalla never fell I doubt that we would have met prior to today or only somewhere in the future and I doubt that our relationship would have become so good as it is right now." I explained and she nodded.

"I thought about that as well..., if you would have stayed at Shangri-La with all the others..., then Banmori and I would have never met you, I don´t know what would have happened to the both of us, maybe the Lycanians would have found us and killed us, who knows?" Chocolat stated as she nuzzled her cheek in my shoulder feeling my body-heat igniting hers.

"This is quite a scary thought..., if you and Banmori would not have been there that day, maybe the Lycanians would have killed us all before father even arrived.

So many things could have happen in a wrong way and our entire future would have been different, if anything of what had happened to us, would have been out of its designated place by a mere centimeter.

A sword-strike that hits instead of being blocked, an arrow that kills instead of being evaded by a hair´s breadth, things like that, in hindsight I can´t believe how lucky we had been in some ways..., on the other hand I also know how sad all what happened has been before.

The destruction of Valhalla..., the attack at Shangri-La, your separation from your folk and family..., the death of Helena and many more..., so many thing have happened to us to lead to this very day..., if just one thing would have been different our whole past would have changed.

I´m glad I finally can remember anything..., after all, living a life with no past is worse, than living a life build on past tragedies." I stated and she nodded.

"Anyways, now that I know what my goal is it is easier for me to accept my role in life, all I have to do is to play all of my cards in the right and strategic order, to reach that goal with most of my deck still intact." I explained and she nodded.

"All the stones from my side had vanished but my own, but slowly so slowly I gather them back, I hope that when I face Lycan in the end, my side of the Field will be filled again, it would be bad to stand against him all on my own..., after all there is something within me which Lycan wants some kind of secret and treasure, if he manages to get it, we will never going to see each other again, that is for sure." Chocolat replied.

"Yeah, in the end there will always be a Damocles sword hanging over both of us..., as long as I exist am I a threat to Lycan and his plans of world-conquest.

Father won´t hold out much longer, only for about a few years at most, now that I have regained all of my memories, the gears of fate have begun to turn yet again and if we are not careful, they might turn in the wrong way, wrecking the machine which is our world." I stated.

"Yeah, from now on anything changes..., so..., may I ask a most selfish last request from you Red, one you might not like?" Chocolat asked blushing but with serious eyes.

"What is it you want?" I asked, a little unsure thought.

"I want you to kiss me, a last time, passionately, just like back in that night, that night I lost my virginity to you." Chocolat demanded and I gasped.

"But Chocolat..., you can´t ask that of me..., that would be like cheating on Elh..., don´t make me do something like this..., I´m sorry, but this is not a wish I can fulfil to you." I stammered and I saw how she let her head hanging.

"I know..., I know I shouldn´t feel that way at all..., after all I have..., but I cannot take it anymore..., the thought of leaving you..., it scares me..., what if we never see each other again, I don´t know what I shall do to ease that pain!" Chocolat stated as she threw herself in an embrace with me.

"I beg of you, just one kiss, one simple kiss, I know you don´t want to cheat on Elh, but maybe we never see each other again, if I cannot see you anymore, I at least want something which always reminds me of the love I felt for you, the light you had been to me, when I wandered in the dark and lost everything I ever had." Chocolat begged me but I could not betray Elh like this.

"I´m sorry..., I´m sorry Chocolat but I can´t, it would not be right.

It would not be fair, neither to Elh nor White." I explained.

"I know..., I know it wouldn´t but I cant forget my feeling, ever since..., ever since that night I wanted you to love me, more than just as a sister, I wanted you..., but I didn´t know how you felt , I did something terrible, I lied to you the whole time.

I have no right to ask this of you but I cannot keep my feelings on a leash anymore when I know that you soon will leave me.

If I cannot see you anymore, I at least want you to know how I feel.

I know very well how selfish this is and I hate myself for doing this..., but I Love you Red, I have always loved you and that wont ever change." Chocolat explained with tears in her eyes.

"I know I have no right..., as the one who killed your child..., as the one who threw away a life because of my own delusion and false conviction, because I misunderstood you and because I did not know you at all.

11 years we lived together, ever since that day as I met you the first time I liked you, I learned to love you but in the end when I had the opportunity to become closer to you than any possible I threw that chance away, because I was convitcted that you never loved me this way." Chocolat stated with a voice full of grieve..., a voice even I could not ignore.

"I loved you since the first moment we had met, after you transformed and even before, it was love at first sight Chocolat..., but I knew I was not meant to be yours, you had Cereus and to steal the girl of another man was nothing I ever wanted to do, it was wrong to do so.

And something within me told me that I should not weave this love, which I felt for you, any further.

But then you shapeshifted and became someone completly new, and i fell for you all over again.

Back then after this night, as I tried to resist you but was unable to do so, I thought that I had hurt you, that I had violated my own ethics, even though i had no idea what they were, as I basically forgot nearly anything about our previous relationship, months ago, beside of a few things.

I knew the name Cereus, but had no idea who he belonged to and of course I could no longer remember that you were a princess, but I had a feeling that what I did was wrong and not meant to happen, that I have hurted you.

As you ran away the next morning, I understood that my mind tried to warn me about this, but my heart already belonged to you, I was hooked.

I tried to take responsibility, to earn enough money for a house should you have become pregnant of me, little I wished for you to be.

As I then found out that you lied to me about not having gotten pregnant by me, I admit that I was a little disappointed, I thought that my love to you was unrequited, that you killed my child which grew inside of you out of spite for what the mating season did to us.

But then I confronted you with my plan and I saw the truth, you misunderstood my behaviour and therefore got rid of the child before it could grow to one.

After I understood that both our convictions had been wrong, I began to ask myself why fate had to treat us in such a way.

We began to live as if never something had happened between us, but I never forgot that night." I explained.

"Neither did I." She replied.

"I know..., after I met Elhize I thought that this was what fate once had planned for me, that I told me that our love was never meant to be and just a fault in fate´s plan.

As we met White and you began to remember your past and your love for him, I understood that we only ever should have remained as adoptive siblings.

That forbidden night, was a coincidence which was never planned by fate.

And still.., I cannot say that I ever regretted it, the night we spent, I will forever remember it, remember that once there was a princess who fell in love with me, as we both had lost our own selves and all we possessed." I explained.

"But..., I don´t just want to remember, I want something more lasting, if I could I would want to give it another try and get pegnant by you:" Chocolat stated.

"Please, Chocolat do not say such a thing easily, you are a princess, you should know better than to risk such a scandal." I explained.

"..., But..."

"No buts, Chocolat, stop it, we are trough with that topic, I won´t cheat on Elh, not with sex or a kiss or whatever, no matter what." I stated and I saw the tears in her eyes welling up from anew.

"But..., if I have her permission for a Kiss, it won´t be cheating right?" She asked, trying another attempt.

"As if she would allow that." I stated mockingly as I stood up from the bed, walking over to the window, to look at the evening sky outside.

"And if I would do?" A new Voice asked and my head spun around so fast it actually hurted.

"Elh..., how long did you stand there?" I asked her as the door opened up fully and Elh and White entered.

"We stood there long enough, the director and Rose predicted that you might have awoken by now, I must say thought, that your conversation was quite interesting." White explained.

"I see." I replied as I blushed, but not as much as Chocolat did.

"White.., Elh..., I..." She stammered.

"We know Chocolat..., Red, I appreciate the fact that you want to stay faithful to me and I thank you dearly for that, but this here is Chocolat, not some random girl or a good friend.

This here is your little adoptive sister, whom you spend most of your life with.

She requests a last final passionate kiss from you before she changes and your ways part.

It is a huge step which both of you have to take by deciding to act upon your responsibilities, and who would I be to deny that.

If you need a better reason, just see it as compensation for my stupid suggestion earlier today, you remember as I, more or less, told Chocolat and White to have sex to get rid of the mating-heat in the first place." Elh explained and I saw how both kids flared up in embarrassment.

"If you say you are okay with that..., then I guess I have to believe you..., but still, are you really sure about it..., what if I get hooked on it..., I mean I did love Chocolat before..., who says that kissing her in such a way won´t reignite these feelings?" I asked.

"If they do then I hope you at least take me as your side-wife, that's the least I would be cool with." Elh explained with a blush and I was buff to be honest.

"White..., what are your thoughts about all this?" I asked him, hoping that at least he would side with me.

"For the moment Chocolat is still Chocolat and not Princess Choco-Vanil, so I cannot truly forbid her anything, after all we aren´t even in an official relationship yet, before that she is still free to do as she wishes, even though I do hope she choses me in the end." White answered and my frustration just grew.

"Red..., can it be that you absolutely do not want to kiss me?" Chocolat asked with a sad expression.

"Nnnngghhh..., no, that's not it..., it´s just..., I don´t know if it is such a good idea to do something so risky, I am barely together with Elh since a few days, even if she says she is cool with it..., what makes that of me if I really do get hooked on it, even though knowing we might not see each other in a long time, what if my relationship to Elh is going to suffer under it.

Then again, maybe I worry too much and nothing more will happen between us, but then I begin to think for myself how that I might not put in all of my feelings..., I just don´t know what to do!" I explained after a while of wrecking my brain trying to figure out what is right and what is wrong.

"Then we will decide for you, if you cannot make the choice." Elh stated in a huff, before she pushed Chocolat from behind, of the bed and into my arms, just in time as I turned around to face her and complain.

Needless to say that we both, Chocolat and I blushed, after we found ourselves in such a close embrace, with the sudden prospect of such intimacy infront of us.

"The Director explained to me, thanks to asking her Kumear acquaintance at Shangri-La some time ago, how to forcefully return another Kumear to her or his original shape, if the same is no able to do so herself.

I do not need to tell you that it will be quite painful, I bet your Guardian has told you so before she transformed you, am I right?" Elh asked and Chocolat nodded, blushing as I still held her in my arms.

"Then it is your duty, Red, to ease her pain in a sweet way, after all you are her older brother aren´t you?" Elh stated.

"I guess so?" I replied as I looked in Chocolat´s eyes, the eyes I once fell in love with.

" _Will you really help me..., brother_?" Chocolat asked with a whisper.

"Yes, I will, if you allow I will." I replied and she nodded still blushing.

"Well after that has been cleared out of the way, let´s proceed.

Red hold Chocolat close to you, really close, Chocolat, get ready to lay your self in Red´s hands, let go of all worry and even in the midst of pain, remember that Red is here with you along the way." Elh directed and I nodded reassuring.

"You better sit on the bed; her knees might give in." She stated and we did as told to us.

I sat in Indian style with Chocolat on my lap looking backwards.

"And what now?" I asked.

"Well, there are two ways of returning the shape, one is a forceful one, which just has the termination of the false shape in mind, often used to return criminal Kumears in disguise back to their original shape to confirm their identity.

And one is the loving one, just as the spell to shapeshift has been spoken over someone with love, it has to be taken away by love again.

Its going to hurt either way, but the loving words are more to ensure that although it hurts the pain means no lasting harm." Elh explained.

"I see, well we definitely will use the latter, I don´t want to bring you any more pain than necessary." I explained to Chocolat and she nodded.

"Then Speak after me!" Elh stated as she spoke in a language I have heard ages ago, maybe during a lesson in history back at Shangri-la.

I looked at Chocolat and she nodded after breathing in and out to calm her heart.

"I´m ready..., do it Red." She stated.

"Well then, here we go I guess.

 _ **Soles, danmen Rias denga Kumear, esta illumi ga Luce vero da pepito, onoma horlos lo ga no danven, ga blesario esta nixe recevero, ora horlos illumi banow, novare alphagos.**_

 _ **Urbanimo ga illumi, san frei vero da pepito, gonga ga zukun na struta ga wegiros!**_

( _Sun, you Guardian of all Kumear, you have shone your light upon this child, now the time has come to rest, your blessing was well received, but the time has come for a new dawn, a new beginning._

 _Dim your light, set free this child, on that she can walk the path to her future_ )!" I chanted the incantation while looking deep in chocolat´s eyes.

"I thank you..., Red." Chocolat stated as she suddenly began to glow same as my Royal mark on my hand, as my rano was used to iniciated the shape-shifting.

"I feel warm..., it´s getting warmer and warmer..., nearly hot." She stated after a little while, as we witnessed how before our eyes Chocolat began to change her shape.

Her ears began to shrunk and round themselves until but two little ears were left.

"It feels so hot..., i´m sweating..., it feels as if I am near a campfire." She stated as she indeed sweated like crazy as if we were in the deepest summer, in a sauna or as she said, near a campfire.

The next thing to change was her tail as the same was pulled back into her body, leaving in the end but a little stump of fur,.

"It´s burning..., its so burning hot..., it hurts.., it hurts so much Red..., help me, please..., I beg of you!" Chocolat, slightly uncomfortable began to shout in pain as her fur began to pale out even more than before.

Her arms became a littler thicker than before, so her legs, her hands got bigger as well, i felt how her weight began to increase as well, not too much but slightly.

Overall her whole muscle and corporal structure began to change, I could not imagine how painful such a thing must be, I held her in my arms, seeing the tears in her eyes.

"Red..., please..., do it.., before I disappear..., completely!" Chocolat stated as her face began to change a little and without needing to be told twice, I leaned in.

"I love you, Chocolat..., guess this is goodbye..., but no matter where you will end up, no matter where I go, note that you can always call unto me, no matter how far we are apart, I will always be by your side." I stated as I kissed her deeply and passionate, before magically branding her my own gift into her hand, of course i did not brand it in like a tattoo, mind you.

It was more like my own personal tag, a marking.

It was a spell, which my father thought me, _ **the mark of the corridor spell.**_

"This is my last gift for now, whenever you are in deep trouble, you can call unto me by forcing magic into the mark, and I will appear to save the day!" I stated with a smile as I kissed her again.

The light which Chocolat radiated began to dim and after a while it was gone.

Right infront of me stood someone else than before, even though the eyes were still the same, had her shape completely changed itself.

Not that it was any worse, it was just so completely unusual to me, since i knew her other form for so long.

But I remembered that face in which I looked now, after the intense shining was gone.

" _You are still as beautiful as the day I first met you_." I whispered into her ear absentmindly, as I held her close, while she nuzzled in my embrace blushing.

"..., Thanks, brother..., may I have a mirror..., I want to see myself as well." Chocolat..., or rather said, Princess Choco, asked.

It was the same voice, but the face it belongs to now couldn´t be any more different from the Chocolat I know.

By all means it was rounder, a little chubbier but still full of determination, that I could assure you.

She gulped, breathed in and out to calm down, before she looked into the mirror.

 _ **Chocolat´s Pov:**_

"Wow..., this sure is.., strange..., I was so used to see myself as a Caninu..., I guess I need some time to get used to my new look." I mumbled as I looked at my entirely new shape, my clothes were already as stretched as far as they could, overall I was a lot chubbier than before, not from fat but rather muscles, my arms were bigger than they ever had been, the most thing I though had to get used to, were my tinier ears and my tail that had basically vanished, until but a little stumb was staying.

Not to mention that my fur was barely white, the biggest change I could see.

"I look so different, this is going to hunt me for some time, that´s for sure." I stated.

"Most definitely, especially since you lived for 11 years as a Caninu and only 4 years as a Kumear, I still remember how I transformed for the first time in a Felineko, suddenly I was so thin, my shape, my fur colour, my entire look had completly changed, but with the time I got used to it.

Of course, you will find so many things strange, just try to walk, the sudden height difference will make you stumble at first but with the time you will get used to it." We heard a voice coming from the door to see how Anastasia, Father and the Director entered the room.

"It has been so long dear sister of mine..., I´m glad to have you back." Anastasia explained as she burst into tears, upon looking into my eyes.

"Sister..., finally I too have a concrete evidence that all you have said and all the memories I had regained before are real..., that it is not some long drawn out dream of mine..., I am really me, a Princess of Valhalla..., its so strange..., I think I should feel something more..., but I do not feel any different than before, at least inertly." I explained.

"Maybe you still do not realize it, since it is all still fresh to you and we are still in a past and well-known environment for you, but once you meet mother and the others you will come to realize that so many things have and still are bound to change in your life." Anastasia explained and Father nodded.

"My dear daughter..., I honestly have no words which can describe what I feel right now, I´m just so glad, so happy to have finally found you, to see that you are safe and sound." Father explained.

"Princess Choco, it is an honor for me to welcome you back." White stated as he bowed deeply before me, I blushed and looked down in shame, for seconds ago I still kissed my Brother deeply and now, as I am back to the Princess I was before, the promise my younger self and White once made, suddenly came into my mind all too consciously.

We promised to marry once I became an adult..., and now look at me, I was all adult, even physically almost a year older than him, while he barely changed from that time.

"Time sure is strange when you live in different worlds." I thought as I curtsied, just like I was taught so.

"Well look at this, just seconds ago you still were my cute, bossy little sister and now..., you have become quite a fine Princess within a blink of an eye, who can even bow with such grace, time sure flies." I hear Red´s joking voice.

I turned towards him seeing him smile.

"Anyways, from me as well..., welcome back, Princess Choco, it is a honor to meet you again." He stated as he gracefully bowed as well, better than his clumsy attempts from before.

"The honor is all mine, dear Prince Red." I stated as well..., before we both burst in laughter.

"This is so awkward..., like really, awkward." I stated with a sheepish grin.

"You can bet it is..., but it is royal etiquette so we have to train to do this without laughing." Red replied smiling.

"Well..., I might not be a Princess, nor a Queen..., and I doubt that you can call my Family aristocrats, even though the Melizee clan does branch of from the Melizera Clan, but please consider my outmost respect and salutations as well, it surely is an Honor for me to have been in your company for so long, Princess Choco." Elh explained as she bowed.

"Silence, you Peasant!" I shouted and it was suddenly dead silent in the room.

"..., pfff.., hahahaha, I´m sorry I just had to do that, your face was priceless Elh..., no seriously, all full of shock." I laughed and it felt good as they laughed with me.

"Seriously it cant get any more awkward than this, I mean you guys do not need to show so much respect, during speaking with me while we are in private, you´ve known me way before I was a princess or even had the glimpse of an idea, that I actually was one, before becoming a Caninu.

Just because I am now officially back to that state, doesn´t mean that everything we had has to change between us, I am still the same as before, only that I have now so much more clarity as well as responsibility in my live." I explained and Elh nodded.

"I admit, for a second my heart stopped." She stated with a chuckle.

"Oh Elh as if I ever would hold you for any less than you are, you are a dear friend to me and the woman my Brother has fallen in love with, how could I ever treat you like not being worth of breathing the same air as me, I would rather slit my own throat than ever thinking such a thing." I stated as I embraced her, gave her a peck on the cheek and nuzzled her, which made her blushing.

"You feel so soft." She said as she began to grope me here and there, nuzzling my cheek with hers, it felt good to be honest.

"Yeah I kind of feel myself a lot fluffier than before, but also way stronger." I explained with a puffed up chest, which was huge to be honest, bigger than before to be honest, making Elh looking at it in sheer jealousy.

"You need to show me that shapeshifting spell as fast as you can, you hear, I can´t stay flat for all of my life." She explained with a forced smile.

"They say that the flatter the chest, the closer you are to one s heart." I replied.

"Althought that doesn´t help, if it gives you issues and inferiority complexes throughout your life." She replied and I smilled.

"So you say you have become stronger..., is that so, then show me." Red stated as he placed his arm on the night table.

"Let´s see how strong you really have gotten, remember you still haven´t won one single time against me, without someone helping you cheat." He explained and I smirked.

"You sure about it, the way I feel now, I might break your arm." I stated.

"I doubt that dear sister of mine, after all I too have gotten a lot stronger than the last time." Red replied.

"We will see." I stated as I placed my arm next to his, grabbing his palm.

"Well since it is futile to try and stop you, I will be the referee, on your marks..., ready..., set..., go!" White stated and once he said the word I began to push while I felt how Red did as well.

"Well look at this, the little girl from before has finally learned to fight back, fair and square." Red explained after a while, as our arms stood back in the middle while sometimes descending to the one side, sometimes to the other.

I had to admit that for once I really understood how strong Red really was.

In arm-pushing you had to focus a lot of strength into one of your limbs, leaving the rest up to a good posture, strenght and condition.

That neither of us was able to truly bring an end to it after half an hour passed, was evident that we had finally become as strong as one another.

"Phew this was the first time neither of us could win, guess that says it all, you definitely have changed in some ways..., I guess I do not need to extensively protect you anymore, as you might well be able to do so yourself, so let no one tell you that you are weak, your strongest point are your skills as a pilot but I am sure that with time comes experience, and soon you will leave me in the dust with fighting as well.

But be sure that I won´t stay lazy either, I too will make sure that I become stronger, and not only in Body, but also in mind.

After all the fate of the world depends on our survival, just as the old Prophecy has spoken it." Red explained and I nodded.

"I guess you are right, Red, anyways now that I have all my memories back, I need to do something very important." I explained.

"You mean to pray at Banmori´s Grave, am I right?" Anastasia asked and I nodded.

"Let´s go pay our respect, Choco and then we go save our friends." Red explained as he showed me a thumb up.

"Not so fast, its okay to go pay your respect, but its about to get dark out there, I am already worried enough about you kids, so don´t you dare doing such a reckless action as to fly into such dangerous area by nighttime." The Director explained with a huff and a stern glare.

"I guess you are right, flying into a storm in the dead of night would be more than just a little reckless." Red replied and we all nodded.

"Good to have you understand that..., anyways, I have some Gifts for you Kids..., or rather things which have been kept here for you, to receive them once you have matured enough and regained your memories.

This one is from your father Red, I´m not really sure what it is or why it looks like this, but he said that it is beyond important for your further path, essential for when you are _**in company of your Knights during a fight**_." The director explained as she handed of a box to Red.

Inside laid _**a golden handle for a sword** _with several engravings inside and _**seven transparent Crystals**_ stapled over each other within the handle

"It´s.., a sword handle..., but there is no Blade..., does that make any sense to you?" Red asked Elh and me as he looked at the gift of his father a little confused.

Maybe even a little disappointed, though he did not show that.

"Not really..., though if your father has kept it here all these years, it must be important." I stated and he nodded.

"I guess so, somehow all what Father says or does has a deeper meaning and happens rarely on a whim and without a good reason, maybe so this time." Red stated in thought and we nodded not sure what else to say to this.

"This here..., I remember it was _**the Locket I got from Merveille**_ upon my departure from the laboratory, the first and only picture she had taken together with me." Red explained as he opened the Silver Locket with a moon-ornament.

"So this is how Merveille looked in younger years." Elh asked upon looking at the photo inside and Red nodded.

"This here is for you too, it is a gift from me and from Lady Burmilla as well as from Rose." The Director explained as she gave Red a bigger box.

"It is an armor fitting for your title as Scarlet Prince." She explained.

"Thank you so much, dear lady Cherrypie." Red exclaimed as he embraced her, while she smiled blushing.

"And this here is for you, Choco." The Director stated as she gave me a large package.

"This one is from Banmori, she used her own one as main material, to remake it into your possible adult shape, if it does not fit, we can still make adjustments, I worked on it as well, since she was unable to work, with the rest of life she bore." She explained as I opened the Package, inside laid an Armor similar to the one Banmori once wore, but in a different color-scheme, Jade-green with black as underground and golden ornamnets.

Next to it was also the Magatama-Necklace from my Memories.

"She´s beautiful..., I will go look if she fits, okay?" I stated but the Director held me back.

"Wait there is something more, Banmori herself asked us to take her weapon up to Shangri-La and reforge it if possible, to shape a weapon which you can wield.

We managed to forge it into the shape of a sword, after several years of working on it, and our Blacksmiths spoke of it as a masterpiece, which stands in close concurrence to a sword forged by _**the Royal Blacksmiths of Mina**_..., so here it is, your first and very own Sword, all you have to do is to give it a name.

Naming an object makes it stronger, more resistant and more obedient, especially weapons made out of special ore and possibly with special powers.

So how shall we call it?" The Director asked me as she gave me a long box in which _**a beautiful Jaden Sword**_ with gold ornaments and polished emeralds laid, it looked similiar to _**Banmori´s Dragon-glaive**_ , which she always wielded, as far as my memory reached.

If I wouldn´t know better, I would say that this is the sword told in the Prophecy.

"A name, hmmm..., good question..., it should have a name fitting to it, a name fitting to the one it originally belonged to..., how about, _**Faris Seral, Fierce Soul**_.

I think that would match." I explained, naming the sword in Valhallian, a language which suddenly rolled so easily over my tongue, as if I had always spoken it.

The name had a nice ring to it, if I may say so myself and the Director nodded in approval.

"A good name indeed..., anyways now that you have your gifts, the time has come for you to fulfil your destiny.

Make sure you live a long and good life, fitting of the one intended by those who sacrificed their own lives for you, until you have to face Lycan and his horde..., it might not always become easy, but one thing is for sure, our world counts on you and so do we." The Director explained and we nodded.

"I guess it is best if we hurry now, the faster we save our friends, the more likely they stay alive, but before we still have to pay our respect to Banmori." Red explained.

"Indeed, let´s get right to it, just wait a second I will look if the Armor fits, now we are still here." I explained and they nodded.

"I will help you, leave anythign to me!" Anastasia stated excitedly and I nodded.

Together we walked into the Bathroom.

"So, Sister..., you have chosen to come with us, am I right?" Anastasia asked while we were in the middle of dressing.

"Indeed, I know its going to be painful and I will miss Red and Elh much, but I have to follow my destiny wherever it will take me, if I do not, the world we know might end and what more, I might mock the sacrifice Banmori has done , for me to survive.

She wanted to see me become strong, a proud Valkyrie of Valhalla and maybe someday a Queen, wether that would come true or not, will at least return back home, after all I still have to bring her ashes back home.

Valhalla might have been destroyed, but I once heard someone saying, that home is more than just a piece of earth, it are the people we encounter there, the people we love and cherish, for me, Valhalla is the folk of my Parents, the folk Banmori and I came from.

But i won´t stay with you for all too long, as sad as it is.

I don´t know who made that Prophecy but if it is accurate, then I will have to help White in his quest..., but I also want to get to know how the life I have left behind would affect me, thats why i will return for a while." I explained and she nodded.

"One thing is for sure, I will stay at your side, even when the time comes, that you decide to venture on with White..., I will just go with you and leave the matters of Valhalla in the hands of our parents, they are far more competent anyways, over the entire years that we searched, we had not much time for me to be prepared as a potential throne heir and to try and learn anything I can now, in such short time, would be futile.

I am more suited as a popstar and fighter than a Queen anyways, maybe to motivate the troops, in times of war." She stated smiling as she embraced me.

"But putting that aside you really look nice sister, so womanly." Anastasia explained me, as she groped me here and there.

"Anastasia stop it, now is not the time for this, I am confused enough within my heart, I admit it feels good to be touched by you or Elh, that´s why i can´t have it to develop that kind of inclination." I stated.

"You mean your feelings for the boys, for White and Red, am I right?" She asked.

"Yes, I mean, Chocolat loves Red, so much is clear, but Princess Choco loves White, so much is clear as well..., as I am one and the same, I am so terribly confused right now whom to love.

My life is a mess, all I ever knew has suddenly been thrown over, ever since I met White and regained these memories of him and myself.

Its all a mess and I don´t know where I should try and begin to bring it back in order." I explained and she stopped groping but instead just lovingly hugged me.

"Dear Choco, I cannot help you unless you let me, but one thing is for sure, I am there for you, no matter what.

You are my beloved sister after all." She stated as she kissed my cheek.

"I..., I.., thank you, Sis." I explained, not knowing what I should say, it was a problem of my on after all, of course it was hard for others to tell me what to do, if it comes to love.

"Well then, lets look at you..., damn girl, I like what I see, it all fits perfectly." Anastasia explained as she led me to the Mirror and I blushed as I saw myself in the mirror.

"This is perfect, you look like a true Valkyrie, I wish I had such an Armor." She stated and I nodded slowly.

"Well then off we go, to pay our respect to Banmori, once more and this time for real!" She stated happily and aloud as she strutted out of the Bathroom.

"Dayum, now that looks nice." We heard as we met Elh, White and Red.

"Thank´s a lot!" I stated blushing as both White and Red looked at me with a blush.

"Indeed, it is quite nice to the eyes, I would say." Elh explained as she scanned me of, after nudging Red in his stomach as the same began to stare.

"Well then lets go." I explained and they all nodded.

We made our way into the backyard, still observed by curious eyes, who now looked out from the doors more openly.

" _She´s so beautiful_." I heard voices whispering.

" _Yeah but the Felineko girl looks also quite nice, if only she had more chest_." I heard another few voices and out of the corners of my eyes, I could see how Elh strutted forward, her fists clenched painfully, trying not to react to it..., but it was plainly to see that she was jealous, her eyes teared up a little.

" _But look at those two men..., wow they are so dreamy, i wonder if they are models_?" I heard other voices saying.

" _One of them apparently lived here some years ago, same as that girl_." someone stated.

It didn´t stopped until we made our way out of the house.

"Here we are, well then Red, Elh, Choco, now its your turn to pay your respects!" Anastasia explained and we nodded before we kneeled down before the grave.

"I will do so too, there is just so much i have to thank her for." Cereus explained as he kneeled next to me making me blushing.

"Choco, how about you say something." Anastasia encouraged me and I nodded.

"Banmori..., it is me, Choco, the girl you have saved, protected and cared about for 4 years, 2 of these years we spent on foreign soil, and even though it has been hard at first, has this place here long grown on me, it has become a home to me, I found friends and people I held as close as family to me.

You were right, Red has been a good match to me, as a loving brother and the man I was able to fall in love with.

However this was to a part also due to me no longer being able to remember, all what has happened and all what I was, but I bet that even if I would have kept all of my memories, I might still have fallen in love with him somehow.

Now that I do remember again however, I am in a little conflict.., I love White too, so much I know..., but I will not want to say that the meeting Red and I had, the relationship as adoptive siblings and one-time lovers, would have been a mistake and not meant to be.

Fate has played its game with me and now it left me infront of a mess of a puzzle, which I have to solve somehow..., but I am sure that I am by far not the only one with a similiar problem.

However this one is insignificant compared to the problems which are about to arise, the time of the Prophecy has come, all the components have been gathered together and she is about to unfold itself, from here on out many hardships might await us, but we surely will push on through, with many of our friends and loyal comrades at our side, we will make sure that the lives which had been saved and preserved for so long, were not in vain, nor the sacrifices others have committed for us.

We will cherrish them and grown upon them, so that one day we can give it our all to save this world.

I want to thank you that you saved me on that faithful day, that you protected me for 2 years straight and that you thaught me so much, as much as you could teach a 4 years old, thanks to you I am to a part who I am today.

Our path will be rocky and sometimes we might seperate from each other, by whatever circumstance which will arise, but I am sure that we will always find back together again.

We are who we are right now, but one day in the future we will become the sacred four out of the Prophecy, that I am sure about and for that we will learn, train and fight, in order to make the wish, for our world to live on in peace and freedom..., the wish, which you and so many other people had and still have, come true." I stated as we kneeled infront of the grave.

"May your soul rest in peace, knowing that your duty has been fufiled, your wish for me to become strong has been fufiled as well, but I promise you that i will not stop here now, I will become even stronger, strong enough to become a woman and a Valkyrie worth of being called a Princess of Valhalla.

For having this oportunity, i thank you with my deepest gratitude." I stated with outmost determination.

I felt how the Magatama Necklace emitted a gentle heat, as if to answer me, to indicate that Banmori has heard me.

As I looked up it was as though I could see her, a faint ghostly shine in her shape which smiled and showed me a thumb up, before turning around and fading away.

It told me that the protection she had given to me so long ago, after she transformed me into Chocolat Gelato, was now gone, all I now had was the protection of the Magatama-Necklace and my own strenght, as well as the loyality of my friends.

"This was really a nice speech." Anastasia explained.

"Indeed, just I really would like to know what you meant with you and Red having been one-time lovers?" Father asked with loud and furious voice.

"Geez Dad, really, Choco is a grown woman, and adult, stop treating her like a little Child, she is old enough to make her on decisions and take upon the consequences of them.

You do not need to give her trouble too." Anastasia stated as she pulled her father away by his ear.

"Ow, ow, ooow, okay, okay, I get it, I won´t ask any further, so please release me, Anastasia." The same whined as he was dragged away painfully.

"Elh, White..., I am sorry, but I cannot forget my Love for Red, still..., I won´t act upon my feelings, that I promise..., I hope you can understand that.

White..., I will try my most possible to remember the promise I have given you and to reiginite all the feelings I had once for you.

Some of them have already, such as my passion and my lust, but I am sure that once we travel together, seperated from Red and Elh, that they will increase, i know it will somehow work out, maybe not instantly but it surely will do." I explained.

"I can wait, no fear." White explained with a smile and I blushed, he was just too good of a person.

"One thing is for sure , Choco..., I will never ever forget you, that is for sure, I will not forget the love I have felt for you, be it as my little sister or as a lover, but my choice remains with Elhize." Red stated as he hugged me again, after we stood up.

"I will miss you Sister, once we go different ways, that is for sure." He stated and I nodded as I hugged him too.

"Elh..., the time we have spent together was wonderful, for once I had someone other to talk and discuss things with, than Red, someone who understood me, and someone who helped me to keep a certain someone in check.

I witnessed how you two fell in love and I was ready to give my own feelings up for your sake.

But I cannot deny my feelings for Red..., what I can however do is, to decide wether I would act upon them or not and I chose not to, I do this for your sake so make sure you become a good girlfriend and someday maybe a good wife to Red, he had earned but the best." I stated and she nodded.

"I will cherish your decision and I will make sure that Red and I stay together, in good as well as in bad times." Elh explained as she looked at Choco, deep in her eyes.

"Well then, I guess the time has come for your depart, just promise me not to take the risk and venture into that place tonight, wait until dawn at least, I know I said it before but I am just so worried about you, you guys can be quite reckless sometimes." The Director stated after we reentered the house to get towards the living.

We both, Red and I, kneeled infront of her.

"We will heed your advice, you need not to fear, we will meet again someday in the future, that we promise." Red explained and I nodded.

"And then we going to celebrate a big party." I replied and she nodded smiling.

"Red, Choco, I am glad to have had you as two of my children, I doubt I can get any prouder, you have grown so much and so strong, it is incredible..., I will never forget the years we had, maybe you kids met through a coincidence, but I would rather like to say that it was meant to be from the start in some way.

I wish I could, but I have no right to stop you and keep you away from your destinies, from all danger that awaits you, so know that my heart and spirit will always be at your side, I will always be thinking of you, no matter how far you guys go." The director explained as she embraced us with tears in her eyes, a loving hug we returned.

"My Prince, we need to go, Lady Burmilla and the others have meanwhile arrived." Greyhound who arrived in the door explained and we nodded.

Suddenly the handle of the sword began to pulsate and Tenebras Noctem, Greyhound´s sword began to glow.

"What is this, what is happening?" I wondered before a cone of deep purple light streamed from the scabbard of the sword towards the handle right into one of the seven Crystals, coloring the same purple.

"Red look!" Elh exclaimed as suddenly a part of a sword began to appear, one side of a sharp edge, several centimeters long and glowing in a pale silverish light, like the Moon in the Nightsky.

"What just happened?" Everyone asked.

"I don´t know but it looks like this sword is indeed deeply tied to the Order of Seven." The Director explained.

"Maybe the sword fully appears when you meet all of the seven swords and gain their loyality." Greyhound explained.

"I was trained for it and I was ready to accept my role once i would meet you, but I guess there had always been a little doubt within my mind, especially after I met you the first time, until the moment I saw you fighting, the way you fought and protected, the way you did not give up until everyone was saved, the way you took on the fight agains the ghoul nearly alone and the way you commanded others, with the best interest in mind, it all showed me that you were worth to be my master.

I lay my life in your hands!" Greyhound explained as he kneeled before me.

"My dear Greyhound, I appreciate your allegiance, may our path lead us to a way to bring back the peace for the free Regions, for all of Tailsworld." I explained and he saluted.

"As you wish my Prince!" He replied.

"Well then, I think we stayed here long enough, our ride is waiting for us!"I stated and the others nodded.

"I guess this is goodbye then..., gosh this is so hard..., sending you off knowing that many dangers will await you, no woman nor mother should ever have to do that." The Director stated with a pained smile.

"We will surely return safe and sound, so stay alive and well until then, you understand!" I stated and she nodded eagerly.

"Keep a good eye on her Thea, I´m counting on you!" Red explained.

"Naturally." The Young Woman replied.

"You stay out of trouble as well..., as far as you can, I do not would want to have to hear, that some of my fellow orphanage-siblings have died at such a young age." She replied in a huff and we noddeed with a smile, before we were brought outside.

The children finally appeared to say goodbye and one each of them wished us luck.

It really broke my heart as we saw the Orphanage getting tinier, while we flew away on the Scarlet Wolf after loading in the Asmodeus.

" _One day we will return, so stay strong and alive until then, may the gods blessings are with you._ " I heard Red mumble as we stood at the window.

"May you spent your days in peace and freedom..., we surely will pray and fight for making that wish come true." I continued and he nodded, as the Orphanage disappeared in the sky that gradually turned several notches darker, now that the night appeared.

We will fight soon, to make sure we all can witness a new dawn in freedom and peace once more.

 _ **End of Story**_

 _ **A/N: This was `The House of Memories´, one of the many Side Stories to come, as you might now know was this more an Origin story of Chocolat, than of Red.**_

 _ **I really hope you all have liked this little bonus story, one of many.**_

 _ **As promised many references for the future books have been written inside this, some might still arrive in the last few chapters of the Main story but not all of them.**_

 _ **I hope it has made the story interesting enough for you to visit it again, once this book ends and the new one starts.**_

 _ **In this sense, read, review and recommend.**_

 _ **Yours truly, the Storyteller and his Books.**_


	7. The Rise of Yin and Yang I, Rebirth

_**The Rise of Yin and Yang**_

 _ **I Rebirth**_

 _ **5 Hours before, Jade Dragon Palace, Skies of Western Shepherd, Yang´s Pov:**_

A lone Siren rang ot through the corridors of the Facility, here at the White Whale

It was no schoolbell nor test-alarm, as this siren rang only in a particularly secluded places, and also only to hear for those living within it.

It was a certain call, a call to arms, a call to never mean anything good.

The siren only rang in times of dire need, when the Freedom and Peace in the Republic was threathened by extreme circumstances, apparently the first time ever since its establishment, that it rang, was during the first rise of the ancient moving titanic weapon, Lares, appeared, back then as the General of the Kurvaz showed his true powerhungry face.

While Lady Million let herself be caught and imprisionned by General Bruno Dondurma and his men, on the surface, had the team already begun to move from within the shadow.

They evacuated the nearest islands and places in the closest viccinity of this thing.

And now the Siren rang out again, a sign that everything went downhill again.

We were the Republics defender, the one to take up the fight if all else fails, we are the final solution.

We are no heroes..., we are the ones they call when all defenses fall and when the only other option is to fight back by any means necessary.

It was though a massive coincidence that today was a day of Physical examinations, which meant for us, me and my Sister, that we had no school today, so also no one of our classcomrades would riddle us with questions later on.

Instead we absolved a couple of test to examine our physical condition as well as our control about these forces we possessed, here in the secret facilities of S.I.T.K.A. in the White Whale, a giant Airship double the size of the Royal Envy and the Golden Roar.

In its own right it was like a small village, it nearly had anything anyone needed to hold a living upon it, residential Quarters, shops, offices, hangars and Workshops for any kind of Vehicles, restaurants, etc.

And here in the Secret Dojo of the _**Special Intervention Team** **of the Kurvaz Agency**_ we were currently training our powers to master them, under the watch of _**our foster Family**_..., or so it should have been.

What these Powers are you ask, well let me tell you first about how we even gained them at all, but it will not be a nice story for sure, all of it was only due to us suffering, even in the moments we thought that we were at peace with the world.

 _ **The Call of the Forbidden Siren**_ had come and so we followed, we had to, if not we would defy our right of existence in this Republic, in this World, deny to be grateful for the help and the life we had gotten, by our adoptive mother Merveille Million, once our previous life had ended.

We could _**be either good or bad, it was our choice,**_ Merveille said so too, back then as we met her the first time..., but with these kinds of powers, it was the worst of ideas, to make yourself the world your enemy.

We understood that quite early.

For _**those with even more power**_ would come to crush us down..., so we better stay clean, out of trouble and generally off the grid of the Authorities as much as possible.

As our forces were _**only needed in the direst of situation**_ , we at least did not had to feel like guinea pigs all the time, not that we felt like some in the first place.

If anything I would say that our life went on, not in the usual bounds, but we were free, free to live as we wanted.

Still we were under observation, after all we never were to forget, that, although due to us self-defending from Criminals, two persons had died through our forces already.

We also had been persecuted by the Authorities for a while, due to these forces, until we found someone who trusted us and showed us a way to put these forces to good use.

No..., most of the time we were but ordinary students..., but we had a not so ordinary secret before most people.

 _ **Yin and Yang Libra**_ , that´s the Name we once went by, back then as we were still _**normal Kids of 12 Years**_.

Before we were part of _**Project Renaissance**_ , as _**executive Field Agents,** **for Extraordinary situations.**_

A few Years ago, we had still lived a normal life with normal interests and Hobbies, mine were the catching and studying of Insects big and small, football and my favorite Tv Series of Super Nyatta and Super Rescue Riders.

My Sister Yin on the other Hand loved to play and hang out with her friends and read books and comics together or talk about their favorite music-stars.

Overall you could say that we were the average Neighborhood children.

We didn´t especially stand out of the crowd but we also weren´t going under within it, not that we ever asked to stand out in the first place, it was nice being average, even though we were born _**the Children of Judge Gilmore Libra,**_ one of the most famous _**Judges from Pharaoh**_.

It wasn´t always easy being the children of such a famous man, as there were always high expectations hold on us and we lived under constant threat from criminals judged by our Father, yeah life wasn´t easy..., but it was still livable I would say.

We were content with living our life the way we had it, the way it came upon us, until we would grow up and had to get a job for a living and maybe someday falling in love and starting a family of our own.

Life had been good to us...

" _But now, those days were long over._

 _Our home, our friends, heck even our Father was gone, not that they died..., no they casted us away._

 _Denied our Friendship or Relationship, called us Monsters and criminals._

 _They pushed us away because of powers we gained..., gained but never asked for, never wanted to possess, forcs that came upon us , which might have saved our life but simultaneously also cursed the same._ " I thought, as I looked out of a window, as we walked up here through the corridor, towards _**the Secret Conference Room of S.I.T.K.A**_.

 _ **2 Years ago, a terrible catastrophe happened to us**_ , back then _**as Pharaoh was attacked by foreign forces**_ , as _the existence of Super-Powers_ came crashing upon us all with almighty force.

And not only that, it only needed a little spark coming from a piece of metal, scrapping over another piece, within the collapsed room at a destroyed school.

The Gas tank was leaking due to the pipes having been damaged, and the spark which ignited the fire in a wild inferno, came to the horror of me and my sister, by those who were to help us...

We were trapped in that room, which filled with gas and made it hard to breath, we thought to have to suffocate before we heard voices outside.

We were glad but once we though we were a step away from freedom, the gas that had filled the room was ignited, by the Jackhammer of one of the Rescuers, exploding and dragging us all around.

The next thing I remembered was us lying in something comfy, soft and warm.

Little i thought that we had died and gone up into heaven, i was not aware that we just were about to take a harsh dive down to hell instead.

 _ **Flashback, 2 Years ago, after the Crisis of Pharaoh**_ :

White, that was all I saw right now.

Where am I, what happened, I cannot remember a thing.

Wait..., wasn´t there someone with me..., Yin..., my sister, where was she?

Why were we here, why can´t I move and why do I see white?

Was I dead..., did Yin died too?

"UUUh" Suddenly it was as if my sense of feeling returned, pain filled my body, my head hurted like hell, pounding as if being maltreated with a Jackhammer.

Suddenly I saw red and orange before me, blooming up like a flower and yet the sight was terrifying.

It felt hot, way too hot, almost scorching..., no it felt scorching.

It was fire I saw, a massive burst of fire that came rushing at me.

What happened?

"Nnnggghh!" Suddenly I heard a voice next to me, I tried with all my power to feel my muscles, and move my head to look next to me.

"Yin?" I asked unsure, barely recognizing my voice, every word burned in my throat.

"Yang, is that you..., where are we..., what happened, why does everything hurt?" The voice asked me as I managed to finally turn my head, looking into the face of my sister, bandages over blonde fur, terrified pale green eyes and honey-golden hair awaited me, as my sight focused on her face.

She was all patched up, her face had several cuts and burns, but otherwise she seemed fine.

But her eyes spoke of fear and worry.

"I don´t know where we are or what happened..., I can barely remember..., I just see fire when I try..., I think I see an explosion." I replied to her question from before.

"If so..., do you think this is a hospital room?" She asked, her voice sounded just as worse as mine did.

"Most likely..., I guess we were caught up in something terrible, I just cannot remember what." I replied.

"Ah, I see you guys have finally awoken..., you got us worried, we thought you might not have taken the operation well, good to see it worked all out." A new voice stated after a strange noise caught my attention.

"Who...?" I asked as I tried to heave my head up to look, but that just made the pounding even worse.

"Oh wait, do not strain yourself too much, not just yet at least..., here, let me help you guys." The voice stated and suddenly my vision was moved, without me moving a muscle.

"Can you see me now?" The Voice stated as my eyes fell on a middle-aged man in a long white coat.

"Who are you..., where are we?" I asked and he nodded.

"My Name is Doctor Engel and you are momentarily in the Pharaoh hospital, you are here since about 2 months..., you laid in coma, both of you." The Doctor stated.

"What happened to us?" I asked.

"You were caught up in an explosion at school and barely survived the same, we had to transplant several organs, under them also your hearts, otherwise you might have died.

We need to run some more tests once you are fully awake and ready to take them, but so far your body seems to accept the organs.

Anyways rest a bit, I will explain everything to you once you are fit enough for it." The Doctor explained and as I was not sure I really understood what he told me, I simply nodded and closed my eyes, sinking back into comforting blackness.

.

.

It lasted two more days until we had recovered enough to properly eat..., our arms and legs were thinner than I could remember them to have been before.

The doctor explained to us that we had been caught up in the middle of an explosion, after the town was attacked by two overwhelmingly powerfull and strange Mechas and beings, which destroyed the school in which we had lessons.

The roof and ground collapsed, effectively trapping us.

As the Fire-defenders were at digging a hole as entrance and exit, they accidently ignited the gas that had filled the room by hitting one of the leaking gas pipes.

The entire place exploded and we were dragged outside by the shockwave.

Many of our ribs broke and we had internal bleedings, it was a miracle that we survived due to instant surgery and operation, as well as the replacement of organs.

A Little I wondered why we were treated directly, instead being sat on the List like everyone else..., but then it all made sense, it was Dad´s doing.

As we were the Children of a Judge it was but only natural that he would pay tons of money for his children to be treated first..., this made me a little miserable, what about all the other people who needed organs as well, if all of these organs had been spent on us, were there any left for other children?

It was a question I asked the Doctor, but he only smiled and said I should not need to concern myself with that.

That claim sure was strange.

.

.

.

In the end it lasted 4 more months until we managed to leave the Hospital.

Rehabilitation helped us to regain our motoric abilities and our wounds healed quite well.

The scar of the surgery on our hearts was a permanent reminder that our life could have been lost if anything went wrong.

But it also meant that due to money, our lives were spared, and the one of others might have been lost.

I tried not to think about it too much, but the thought never left me.

Even though Yin and I tried to live our lives as before was it impossible, suddenly we were famous, reporters camped infront of our house night and day, just to shoot one single picture of us, it was worse than ever before..., all that attention was surely tiring.

During that time, I thought that this was perhaps the worst that could happen.

I would have never counted with what happened half a year after our accident.

It all started after a normal day after school, Yin and I hanged out with our friends, trying to get back into our usual life and routine, and it seemed to work, everything was normal again.

The only difference that happened was that our friends became more careful and concerned around us, but otherwise it was all the same as before.

"Hey you guys want to hang out in town, the Shopping mall has finally re-opened?" _**Victoire Price,**_ one of Yin´s friends asked.

"Sure why not, I´m all up for it, what about you guys?" I asked the others who nodded eagerly.

I remember a time that we went almost everyday after school to the mall or the Game-center, of course we did our homework and learned enough, our notes never fell below average, but always stayed high up, due to that, Dad allowed us to go play whenever we wanted.

"Then it's settled, let´s go!" I stated with joy as we walked on towards the central Plaza.

I recognized that Yin seemed not to feel so well, so I fell back walking next to her.

" _What´s the matter Sis_..., _Yin..., what´s wrong_?" I asked her in a hushed voice, concerned, as I saw her looking around shyly.

" _I don´t know..., I just feel as if someone is watching me, from afar, I felt so the whole day at school as well, it isn´t the usual feeling..., this feels more sinister minded_." Yin answered unsure.

" _You think its one of the Paparazzi_?" I asked her but she shook her head.

" _Its not like the glances of those money-hungry photographers..., this here is different, it seems as if it originated in hatred, someone is stalking us for harms sake_." Yin stated with an unsure glance.

" _Shall we call things off and head right back home_?" I asked her, but she shook her head.

" _No that would only get them the triumph they want, Dad always says that we must face conflicts head on, I think as long as we are in the group we are safe_." She explained.

" _I guess you´re right, but if you see someone tell me okay_." I replied and she nodded.

"Guys, what´s holding you up, c´mon!" Victoire stated aloud, catching our attention, standing infront of the mall.

"Coming!" I stated and so we ran up to them and made our way into the mall.

We had quite a good time with our friends but everything comes to an end and 3 hours were long enough anyways.

We still had homework to do, so we made our way back home after a few hours.

Our friends lived in the other direction so it was just us going that way.

I almost forgot about that potential stalker out there.

The Sun was already setting, soon the sky would be dark.

"Today was fun." I stated as I walked next to Yin.

"Indeed, it did good to have something normal again, it felt like ages since I last was shopping." Yin replied nodding as we walked on, dragging our bags back home.

Suddenly she stumbled but caught herself from falling.

"Woah, Yin, are you alright?" I asked her shocked.

"I..., I don´t know, suddenly my vision got all blurry and my body somehow starts to feel hot." She exclaimed confused.

"Geeez you are burning up, if you felt unwell like that, you should have said so, you need to speak up when you are feeling bad." I stated after I felt her forehead.

"Why is that, I was okay just an hour ago?" Yin asked unsure, breathing hard.

"We should get back home, or better go see the doctor, maybe this is an aftereffect of the surgery." I suggested and she nodded, as she tried to walk on but quickly fell to her knees.

"Yin, take it easy, geez come on, I will support you!" I stated as I put her arm around my shoulder and heaved her up, she breathed hard, as if she had run a marathon.

"C´mon now, step by step." I muttered as we walked on, but we didn´t came far.

"Huh?" She suddenly looked afraid, before she glanced behind.

"What´s there..., huh, what the?" I stammered as I looked behind us after I saw her frightful face, only to see a man standing there under the streetlight.

The Sun hat meanwhile set and the streets seemed cold and empty.

The man standing behind us fixated us with an angry glace.

"What do you want, who are you?" I asked aloud unsure of what that guys was up to.

"Yang, there are more coming!" Yin stated weakly, as she pointed forward, I looked to see two men coming out of the buildings next to a dark lit alley which we stood infront of.

They closed in on us and we were inevitably dragged into the alley, which ended in a dead end.

"What´s the meaning of this?" I asked myself as I took Yin closer to me, shielding her from them.

"So you are the brat that got the Heart meant for my daughter, how dare you running around all happy and smiling..., when my daughter died..., just because your Father payed much more money than I could, they gave up on my daughter and let her die, saving you instead...

My wife..., she killed herself because she could not cope with the loss..., this is all your fault..., if only you had died before my Girl, maybe she would be alive now.

I have nothing left but my sorrow and my hatred..., so let me at least fulfil my hatred!" The man stated, as suddenly I could see something silvery shining bright, he had pulled out a large knife.

"If you are no more..., maybe my daughter and my wife..., will finally be able to rest in peace!" The man shouted, as he was ready to stab one of us.

Knife held infront of him, running at us.

"Yin get Back!" I shouted as I pushed her back.

"Yang be careful!" My sister shouted out in fear.

Luckily, I knew a little about self-defense, since my mother insisted that we learned some of it for our own safety, as we refused to constantly walk around with Bodyguards, much to the dismay of our father.

I really wish I had a pair of them now here with us.

"Hyaaaah!" I shouted as I stepped aside and grabbed the wrists of the attackers, letting him run past, before kicking away his legs.

The gravitation did the rest as he fell flat on his back, unconscious, to be honest he smelled like a brewery.

No wonder his judgement was so narrowminded, ever since his family died he must have drowned his sorrow in alcohol.

" _One down_." I muttered as I jumped backwards to Yin, shielding her from the other two men, I was panting hard, this was too much exercise for someone out of the Rehab since but a few months

Also it felt as though the fever which Yin had had began to spread over to me as well, my vision started to become blurry.

"You damn Kids, thanks to your Father our kids died, we won´t ever forget this!" One of them shouted.

"So you decided to take it out on us..., we too would have died without the organs, so you say we were better off dead..., would that really make your children happy?" I asked, trying to reason them, but I knew it was futile, I had the same thoughts in my mind after all, I knew that someday it had to come to this.

"SHUT UP!" The one I addressed shouted as he attacked us with a knife as well, only for me to beat him back and kick him into the next wall.

I was but 12 years old but my sensei in the dojo held me for quite promising.

However, didn´t that meant that my condition was still up to it, au contraire, I was nearly at the limit of my forces, this Heart and a few other organs were new after all.

"Ha, I knew a Knife would not work, so I was clever and brought a gun instead!" The Third Men stated as he pulled a gun out of his belt and pointed it at Yin.

"YIN!" I shouted as I rushed to here side, but I was too far away to get to her in time, even I knew that.

"YANG!" My sister shouted as she looked at me in terror, while I tried my best to run to her side.

"Now Die, Revenge for my Son!" The Man shouted.

"NOOO!" Yin and I shouted in Chorus as the Bullet was released, out to bring misery.

It was as though time slowed down.

Even though I run as fast as I could, I didn´t seemed to even move a millimeter.

But then it happened, suddenly I was pushed backwards by an invisible force coming out of Yin, but I managed to stand my ground.

"What..., what just happened?" I asked as I looked forward, the shockwave vanished as fast as she came.

I saw how the man with the gun laid unconscious at the other side of the alley.

"Yin." I stammered as I looked at my sister, the same was Floating, some king of strange fluorescent wing-like appendages were sprouting from her back, her eyes glowed.

It was impossible for me to comprehend just what I saw, but as fast as it happened it also vanished again, suddenly the wings dispersed and Yin fell to her knees.

"Yin, sister, wake up, what has happened to you?" I asked her as I rushed to her side.

She was unharmed but unconscious.

"M-Monster!" I heard someone shouting.

It was the guy I had kicked in the wall.

"It was you, I knew it, I saw you before, you were the one who destroyed Pharaoh!" He shouted as he pointed at Yin.

"I will never forget that day, as that Black clothed, winged girl destroyed our house, pushed it away in a shockwave alongside other houses, on top of her Mecha.

My daughter and my son, they were crushed by rocks, they might have become paraplegic, however they would have lived, only new organs would have saved them..., but the one they needed and should have received, was already gone, transplanted into you.

And now you use the same forces..., admit it, you never died, you just hid in another body, to evade justice for your crimes, but not with me, I will kill you, I will kill you for sure!" The man shouted as he looked around and found the gun of the other man next to him.

"Die you Scum!" He shouted as he pointed the weapon at Yin once again.

"NO YOU DON´T!" I shouted as I suddenly felt such a wrath in me and it was as if electricity ran through my body and out of my fingertips.

Before I comprehended what happened, the man was already Slammed into the same wall, he had laid next to before, several meters above ground.

"You filthy rat, how dare you pointing that thing at my sister!" I shouted in wrath as the feeling became stronger.

The man was pushed deeper into the wall, squashed by some unknown force.

"Aaaarrgghhh!" He shouted as he spit blood.

"Yang, stop it, you are hurting him!" Yin shouted but I didn´t knew how to stop anymore, my wrath was nearly at overtaking me.

Something in me enjoyed this power I had over that guy and it frightened me greatly.

"YANG!" Yin shouted and before I knew what happened the force ran out, as I felt Yin´s body pressing at me, as she embraced me with tears in her eyes.

It was as though all force left my body, sucked away by her touch, as I fell to my knees, just like Yin before.

The same leaned on me with teary eyes, crying into my chest while I honestly had no idea what just happened.

The man slid to the ground, bleeding out of his mouth, breathing heavy.

" _What just happened_?" I mumbled in shock.

"Yang we need to get out of here, what if more of these people come?" Yin asked and I nodded.

Of course, it was wrong to run away, but I was too shocked to think rationally, so I helped Yin up and together we stumbled out of the alley, the first man still laid there unconscious but the man who brought the gun was nowhere to be seen, he seemed to have been dragged far away by this shockwave thing of Yin.

I don´t know where or how far we ran, but eventually our forces ran out and we slumped onto a bench in a park, it wasn´t the central park, at least I thought so, either way it was already dark out here and the streetlights illuminated the park just partially, so it was hard telling.

"What just happened there?" I wondered in shock, unsure what to feel or what to even do now.

" _What was this force_?" I muttered as I looked at Yin who looked just as disturbed as myself.

"An ambulance..., we have to get an ambulance." Yin stated to me.

" _Yeah, these people might have attacked us but if we don´t do something they might die, even though they do not deserve it_." I muttered as I pulled out my mobile phone and dialed the number of the Ambulance service.

"Do you remember where that had been?" I asked Yin.

"I think it was the alley across the Antiquity shop in the Centrale lane." Yin replied her arms never leaving mine.

I told the address to the person on the phone before I hang up.

"What now?" Yin asked.

"I´m not sure, I hope they survive, but if not, they might arrest us for murder, I mean we just bolted from the crime scene." I stated unsure.

"What was that power?" Yin asked.

"No idea..., but it seemed to come from within us..., that last guy..., he seemed to have recognized us, he said a girl in black..., with wings destroyed his house..., but we never had such forces, we are but ordinary Caninu children of 12 years aren´t we?

..., _just what happened_?" I muttered that last part, unsure of where to start, to even try and comprehend what happened back then.

"Should we return home?" Yin asked but I shook my head.

"I think I left my backpack in the alley, there is where they will search first, no one´s gonna believe us that we just defended us, not with the injuries these guys have gotten..., even when the police would catch us, what if the same happens again?" I wondered and she nodded.

"Maybe it´s for the best to stay away for a while." She muttered.

"I guess so." I replied nodding.

"But where should we go to?" She asked.

"Not sure but we can´t stay here out in the open." I replied.

"C´mon Yin, let´s find a place to stay." I said to and so we made our way through the dark lit park.

"This place is scary by night." Yin muttered after a while of walking.

"Indeed, we better would have walked over the street." I stated agreeing.

"Hehehe, well look who we have here..., isn´t it too late for such young kids to be out at this time of the day..., well sucks for you that we found you, so how about it, we search us a nice place." Suddenly a voice stated from behind, startling me to the core.

Instinctively I pulled Yin behind me.

Before us stood a group of older guys, looking like the average criminal gang, armed with baseball-bats and crowbars.

"Hey I know these kids, aren´t those the brats of that Judge, who had been in the news not so long ago..., I bet they got a ton of money at hand and if not, there father surely will pay much for them, if we threat him!" One of them stated as he pointed at us.

"Seems like today is a lucky day, if you are right, we can get us a fortune!" The other one, some guy with crazy haircut and many piercings as well as a tattoos, most likely their leader, laughed with a sinister grin.

"Yin, run!" I shouted as I turned heels and dragged Yin behind me.

"Hah, you think you can get away, we know this park better than you guys do..., get them!" the Leader shouted and I instantly heard how many people came running for us.

"Yang wait up!" Yin stated aloud as she barely could catch up, despite the fact that I pulled her by the hand.

"We need to get out of here, if not we are toast!" I stated aloud.

"Uaaah!" Suddenly I felt how her grip left mine as she stumbled and fell flat on her face.

"Yin!" I shouted as I rushed at her side.

"Ooow, my Leg!" She shouted in pain and I saw how blood ran down her leg, an empty beer-bottle rolled over the ground before it stopped under the heel of one of these guys.

I felt that we were surrounded, I didn´t even needed to look, to know that.

"You really though you could get away, don´t you, well too bad for you that your sister is such a clumsy girl." Their Leader laughed as he appeared behind his men with a sickening evil smile.

"If you would not have resisted we might have stayed friendly, but as it seems that you do not appreciate our hospitality, I think we need to show you the house rules of this park first.

First rule, you always pay the owner..., second, you do not bolt when the bill comes..., and third, you are not allowed to leave until the owner says so!" The Leader shouted and each of those stupid rules was underlined with a beat of his metallic Baseball bat, which I took, shielding Yin.

"Yang, Nooo!" The same shouted as she cried in terror, while I crouched over her, shielding her with my body.

"Oh how heroic, the boy defends the girl, too bad that heroism doesn´t help you when you are beaten black and blue." The leader laughed as I felt many more beats, as his man began to go down on me, beating me with all they got.

My body hurted all over, it felt just like back then as I woke up from coma.

"C´mon get the girl from under him, we gonna have a lot of fun with her!" The Leader shouted, encouraging his men, I felt how Yin was dragged out beneath me.

"No, don´t you dare..., keep your filthy hands of my Sister!" I shouted, as I grabbed the arms of that bastard.

"You damn brat don´t know when to quit, don´t you!" The leader shouted as he kicked me in the head.

I flew backwards letting go of the other guy.

"Didn´t..., I..., told..., you..., not..., to..., defy..., me!" The Leader shouted as he kicked me with every word.

"Woah, hahaha, I think you killed him, that guys doesn´t move anymore!" I faintly heard someone laughing at me.

My body was completely numb, I did not feel anything anymore, but I heard anything, I heard Yin´s cries clearly in my mind.

"Damn, for such a tiny brat, this girl sure has a nice pair of tits!" I heard one of them say and I wanted to move, I knew I had to move, I had to save Yin, but my Body would not move.

" _If you give up now, she´s going to be abused_." I suddenly though to hear a voice, it did not sound sinister or mocking, it sounded painfully neutral, as if this whole situation did not concern that person.

" _You need to rise of else your poor little sister will be raped by these guys and maybe even kidnapped, maybe even worse_." The voice kept on speaking.

"Who are you?" I asked but I did not felt my mouth moving, to be honest I did not felt anything anymore.

" _Someone who had tried to rid this world of scum like these people..., better said who tried to cleanse this world from all of you, I felt superior to you, felt that you were not worthy to remain on this world._

 _I felt perfect, superior to everyone but my master, even my mother was but vermin to me, until I saw the truth, until that very truth was forced on us_." The voice stated and what she said made no sense at all.

"What do you mean with that?" I asked.

" _You really sure you have time to chat, if you do not do something your sister will be scarred for life_." The voice stated again.

"What can I do, I can not even feel my body anymore, I doubt I am even alive anymore!" I asked with wrath rising in my voice, if I could move I would have already done so.

" _You must accept that you are not yourself anymore, that you are more than you ever have been, embrace this force and use it to show your will_." The voice stated.

"This force..., you mean this force from before?" I asked.

" _Indeed, remember what you felt as you used it, recreate the feeling and you will be able to act again_." The voice, replied as it seemed to fade away.

"Wait, where are you going?" I asked in a panic.

" _My time is over, I had my life and I lost it because I was blind..., blindly following someone who did not cared for anything in this world..., too blind to see who I really was and what I should have done instead of what I did do._

 _We were murdered by our brother, who we had always deemed a failure, as he did the same, we did the entire time, following an order we deemed as ultimate._

 _The bill for all of what my sister and I had done wrong in our lives had been delivered on this day, for all the lives we had erased, all the places we had destroyed._

 _It is a shame that we were blind, blind to see the truth, that we had been used the entire time and once our purpose was fulfilled, we were betrayed by our Father, the man we admired._

 _We were left to fetch for ourselves, cast away and thrown into the dirt of the hell we had unleashed ourselves, not that we had even a second of that unwanted freedom, before death awaited us_." The voice replied getting even fainter.

"At least tell me your name!" I shouted.

" _My name was Blank..., and yet I am you and you are me..., now is your turn..., Our mother will surely contact you sooner or Later, trust her, she wanted just the best for us, wanted to save us before we were killed..., our brother too tried to save us before the Order was forced on him.._

 _Trust Merveille and Red, but no one else._

 _Now is your turn..., make it better than we did._ " The voice nearly whispered and suddenly it was as though I could feel how the presence of this person was gone, but the feeling she gave me was still there.

What did he mean with that, he was me and I was him?

" _My turn..., my turn to do what_?" I wondered as I tried to remember the feeling from before in that dark lit alley.

Suddenly I was able to hear again.

"Dammit keep her still, I can´t get my dick into her that way!" I heard someone shouting and I wondered how long I was out, but either way I knew exactly what happened and I would not allow such a thing to happen to my Sister.

" _Raaaaaaaaahhhh_!" I shouted in my mind as I forced it to remember how my body felt, how to move my muscles, how to stand up and how to fight back.

I let force running through my veins alongside my blood, I let it fill my entire body, with my heart as central part of this network, this cluster of tissue, bones, cells and lifeforce.

Wrath fueled my body as I felt how I stood back up.

"What the..., that guy, he is back on his feet?" I heard a voice before I opened my eyes seeing the sigh infront of me.

4 men pinned Yin down and a 5th one tried to rape her, while two other stood by to keep watch.

I was left to suffer, but now as I stood before them, wrath filled my heart even more and clouded by better judgement.

"Then Beat him back down, that shouldn´t be so difficult!" The Leader shouted still trying to force himself on Yin.

"Stay down you Brat!" One of those who looked at me, ran up to me with his crowbar held up high, ready to slam it down on my head.

"Get out of my way!" I shouted, as I punched him in the face with impossible speed.

From one second to the next I was right before him, my fist making contact with his face, punching him backwards with incredible force.

"What the..., how is this possible!" The other one shouted in sheer shock.

"What are you guys doing there!" the Leader shouted as he turned around only to nearly choke on his words.

"What the hell is that..., what kind of Monster are you?" He shouted in terror.

"Your worst nightmare." I stated as power ran through my entire body, circulating rapidly, wrath fueling it even more than before.

"Dammit, what are you standing there for, take him down already!" The Leader shouted to the other guy who stood before him.

"Uuuuwwwwaaaaah!" The same screamed as he too ran up to me with his Baseball bat at the ready, looking desperate, more than unwilling to gain my attention.

I lifted a hand and imagined myself how I did it before, how I smashed that guy into the wall, back in the alley.

I visualized a bolt of energy forming in my hand, before I send it right into his stomach.

And it was as if he was dragged away by an invisible force, like a puppet by its strings out of sight..., with nothing but his battle cry echoing in the darkness through the park.

"What the hell, what´s happening here!" The Leader shouted in fear as he stood up but stumbled over his stripped-down pants falling backwards on the ground while his men scrambled in terror, leaving him back.

"Please, have mercy!" He shouted as I walked up to him.

"You should know that scum like you deserve no mercy, vermin like you deserve to be squashed without any mercy!" I shouted as I raised my arm again.

"Stop right there, what´s going on here?!" Suddenly a new Voice shouted, I looked to see one of the Park-Guards walking up with his taser-gun aimed at us.

Too late, way too late one of these bastards decided to show up.

If he had come earlier, saving us, I would not have to do this.

"You should better catch those who ran away, I will take care of that guy here!" I replied aloud.

"Nice try but the way I see it you are far more suspicious than those rowdy punks!" The Guard shouted.

"And there you are mistaken, I only do what is right by cleaning out the dirt, doing the job you are paid for but which you do not seem to take serious!" I replied, as I aimed at the Leader who meanwhile had pissed himself in fear and terror, looking from me to the Guard and back.

"Keep that arm lowered, I don´t know what you are trying to do, but don´t make this mess worse than it is!" The Guard tried to persuade me.

"I don´t make things worse..., I just turn them right again!" I stated as I used my force to push the leader away, in the same moment as the Taser was released.

I felt a sharp pain in my side as I stumbled backwards and fell over.

"Dammit, just what´s going on here." I heard the guard mumbling as he came closer looking at me.

"You will pay for this!" I stated aloud as I tried to,stand up again, before I was shocked once more.

"Aaaarrrggghh!" I shouted in pain.

"Stay down, it´s for your own good!" The Guard shouted.

"Officer Vauban here, I need Back up at 5.20, asap." He stated in his radio.

"Stay, don´t make me do this again!" He shouted as I tried to move as the pain subsided.

"Yin is still hurt, let me to her!" I stated aloud, to overtone the noise in my head as the electricity of the taser messed with my brain´s signals.

"You are not going anywhere, my colleagues will be here in a jiffy so be a good boy until then and stay down." The Park Guard stated, looking desperate, his finger on the trigger, ready to shock me again.

"Let me to Yin!" I shouted as I managed to stand up and stumble forward to him, frightening him greatly.

"Nooo, stay down!" He shouted in fear as he pulled the trigger once again.

I felt how my corporal coordination was messed up and how I fell to the ground landing face forward on the ground.

"Officer Vauban, where are you guys, hurry up!" I thought to hear him shouting in his Radio as my consciousness faded.

"What, who are, what, why, noo, aaaaah!" I heard him shouting again, before I felt that I was dragged up.

"I will help you, we must hide for a while." I heard Yin´s soft voice saying.

"Yi-in." I exclaimed before I truly lost consciousness.

.

.

.

I woke up to the noise of sirens and words being shouted.

" _Get out of there and keep your hands up in the air, don´t make us harm you_!" I heard someone shouting.

"Dammit, we have to get out of here, but they have already surrounded the house." I heard Yin´s voice.

"What..., where am I..., Yin what´s going on?" I asked with a groggy voice as I opened my eyes trying to focus.

"Oh good you are finally awake, you were unconscious for a while." Yin explained.

"What´s with all the sirens?" I asked.

"The Police, it was all over TV, the alley has a camera and it filmed the whole thing..., well part of it.

It filmed how we were forced to go into that alley by those men, then there was only the alley to see, then you heard gunfire and in the next moment one of these guys came flying out of the Alley, the Camera was flipped over by some invisible force and then recorded the inside of the alley.

It caught me as I floated and as you used those forces as that man pointed his gun at me.

Then they showed the sight of the Park, there were cameras as well, they showed how we were ambushed, how we tried to run and how we were caught by them and then beaten up, how they tried to rape me and how you took them out.

Yang..., two of them died, one of them and their Leader, slammed into the trunks of trees, breaking their necks..., I attacked that Park Guard who shocked you with this taser multiple times, they said he had to be hospitalized.

They say we are dangerous and if anyone knows about our whereabouts, they were to call the police..., I think they hold us for those two that attacked Pharaoh once, they haven´t been seen ever since the battles in Pharaoh subsided a few months ago.

Some though they might have died, others said they were hiding, broken and injured but alive.

The Authorities and the Reporters have already spoken with Father, since our ID Cards were found at both crime scenes, and he said that we weren´t his children anymore if the accusations were true, that he would have never allowed for monster such as this to be born...

What shall we do now, one of the neighbors has seen me, as I went out to buy food and something to drink, she must have called the police." Yin stated in a desperate tone.

"Where are we even?" I asked her.

"In the apartment of that Park Guard, I stole his house key and some of his money." She explained and I looked dumbfounded and in shock, this was one of the worst ideas ever.

"Why have you done that?" I asked in Disbelieve.

"We were out of money, yours laid in your bag in that alley and mine somewhere in the park, thrown away during our flight from these guys.

Also we needed a place to safely stay, and since I had no idea where else to go or what else to do, I thought that the apartment of a Single guy might be the best place to sleep and hide for a while and still be safe." Yin explained.

"How did you know he was single?" I asked dumbfounded.

"His wallet, there was nothing personal inside than money and credit cards, no photos of Children or a wife, not even of a girlfriend, and there were these..." She stated as she showed me a small pack of condoms.

"Sorry but what guy in a relationship run around with condoms in his pocket?" She asked and I had to snicker.

"None, I guess only desperate singles would do such a thing, nice going Sis, just like Sherlock Hound." I stated with a smile.

"Well it was a good idea, until this happened..., there has been a troop of them that just stormed inside, they are soon infront of the door, we have to get out of here." She explained.

"Any ideas where to go?" I asked but she shook her head.

"I´m all out of options." She replied.

"I see, well you did good sister, now it is my turn of defending you again..., I´m sorry that I couldn´t do so yesterday." I exclaimed but she shook her head.

"You did everything you could and you fought bravely for me, this is more than I could have asked for..., I love you Yang." She stated as she embraced me.

"Yin." I stated shedding a tear.

We had always been close but ever since the Incident at the school and the later hospitalization we were forged even stronger together.

Maybe it was because we had only Dad and ourselves anymore, as Mom died during the attacks at Pharaoh.

 _ **She was out meeting a friend from Bordaussie in a nice little Diner**_ , before the same collapsed and buried both women, alongside of other people, underneath the rubble.

"Wait..., I hear footsteps, that must be them." I exclaimed as I heard the noise of many steps on the ground.

"Oh no, what now?" Yin asked.

I looked around to find somewhere to hide.

The Roof, it was the only way to have enough space, maybe we can flee from there to another building.

"Fire Ladder!" I stated aloud as I stood up and ran towards the window.

"C´mon Yin!" I stated as I helped her out of the window and onto the fire ladder.

"We going up to the roof, maybe we can get to another building this way." I stated and she nodded as she climbed up.

"Stop, in the Name of justice, stand still!" We heard the voice of someone, amplified by a Megaphone.

"Keep climbing we are almost on the roof, don´t listen to them." I reassured her and she nodded.

"Yin, Yang, stop this Madness, I´m sure you had a good reason for doing this but you have to stop, now!" Suddenly we heard Father´s voice out of the Megaphone.

"Dad." I mumbled.

"Yang, we have to climb, they only brought him as distraction, he has already said that he does not consider us as his children anymore!" Yin stated aloud, reprimanding me for stopping for a second.

"Right, let´s get going, the roof is just a stone-throw away." I stated and so we kept on climbing.

"Over here, I have them in my sight!" We heard someone shouting as we looked underneath to see a few men on 2 levels underneath, climbing up with much ease.

"They are heading for the roof, get the Helicopter over there!" I heard how that guy ordered in his radio.

"Stop You two, in the name of Justice..., you are under arrest!" he shouted pointing at me.

"C´mon Yang the roof isn´t far anymore, just a little bit more!" Yin shouted and so we kept on climbing, the roof was just one more level away.

"We made it but what now?!" Yin asked, as I pulled up the last ladder to make it unreachable for our pursuer.

The same cursed loudly, as he finally reached the last level before the roof but was unable to reach us any longer

"They are on the roof, I repeat, the Escapees are on the roof!" he shouted in his radio.

"Damn you, we get you either way so stop running!" He shouted after us as we walked over the roof looking for somewhere to go.

"What now Brother?" Yin asked me.

That building over there it doesn't look far, if we do it right we might jump through that window." I explained as I pointed to the other side of the roof.

"Let´s take a look." Yin replied nodding.

We were halfway over the roof as suddenly we could hear the noise of an incoming Helicopter.

"Dammit, those are the cops!" I shouted as they came in sight.

"Yang, over there, our escape is blocked!" Yin shouted as she pointed in the direction we were going, out of the door to the lower level a troop of heavy armored Policemen emerged for ing a line and pointing their guns at us.

"You have nowhere else to run, give up you Kids!" The men in the Helicopter shouted over Megaphone.

"What now, shall we give up!?" Yin asked me.

"Dammit..., what now?" I though to myself as I looked at our situation.

A high building, ourselves and our enemies on the roof, our only ways out were occupied to both sides by them.

A flying enemy was trying to threaten us, what do we do.

"Yin..., I have an even stupider idea than before and it will require the forces we possess, do you think you can bring them out?" I asked her.

"Yes if I visualize it like Nero told me to, then I can feel it circulating through my body, I then have to just expand it from within to out of myself, enveloping my body." Yin replied.

"Nero?" I asked unsure.

"Yes..., I heard that voice yesterday in the Park, as I was unconscious after almost being raped and hit on the head by one of the gang members, before I attacked that Guard, she told me to fight back and to save you as that guys shocked you so often, while pissing his own pants.

At first it was but her voice, but then I saw the silhouette of a Caninu Girl fading away, she smiled at me before vanishing, saying that my turn had come..., whatever this means." Yin explained.

"So you saw someone as well, me too, he said his name was Blank and that he and his sister seemed to originally had possessed these forces..., what when the girl in black clothes, which that man in the alley had seen, was the Nero you had seen in your mind." I told her and she nodded.

"Maybe, not that we got the time now to find it out." She stated and I nodded.

We never got to know, whose hearts had been transplanted within us and father did not bother telling us either, whether he even knew about it.

But it seemed that with the hearts also the forces had gone over to us, it lasted 6 months for them to manifest, to be accepted by our body.

It these hearts were indeed those of the ones that attacked the Shepherd Republic, we had the hearts of our mother´s murders within us..., what did that to us, now that we were murders as well?

Were we bound to become super-villains, was there no way to return to the path of a hero?

"So what is your plan?" Yin´s voice asked, ripping me out of my trail of thoughts, as we looked at both sides, where the policemen walked up on us, the fire ladder had been brought back down and so those guys which had been stopped on the last level walked now up on their side closing in on us, both sides effectively surrounding us.

The Helicopter flew between the parties on the other side of the roof, leading over nearly 80 meters down to the street.

"Either we use our forces to jump in the right moment and get inside of this Helicopter, knocking all the people inside out, all but the pilot, or we crash with high speed after a freefall into the street, shielding the impact with our forces." I explained and she looked at me in disbelieve.

"That is a terrible idea..., on both accounts." She stated.

"The other option is to get us arrested and who knows what they will do with us, we have forces they cannot comprehend and that frightens them and if they are frightened, they act aggressively.

I don´t know about you but I am not ready to be dissected or used as a guinea pig." I explained and she nodded.

"Neither am I..., I guess you are right, well I for instance hope we get that Helicopter." She exclaimed and I smiled.

"I hope so too." I stated.

"Well then, shalll we?" I asked her.

"I trust and follow you, Yang, so lead me on with all you believe and courage!" Yin replied.

"Then Let´s go!" I shouted as I began to run, pulling her by her hand.

"What are you Kids doing, stop it, this is dangerous, stay back..., do not kill yourself, this is not the answer!" The guys in the Helicopter shouted as they saw us approaching the edge of the roof.

"Sure, it´s not a suitable answer..., but it is one way out..., now Yin, Jump!" I shouted as we were a millimeter before the abyss, repelling us from the edge, using our forces to jump up in the air and bridging over the distance.

The face of everyone in the Helicopter was priceless, as we simply jumped within their middle.

"What the..., how is this possible?" They shouted in sheer surprise reacting several moments too late before we knocked them out and cuffed them onto the railing and each other before closing the side doors.

"What the hell´s going on back there?" The pilot shouted.

"Get us out of here, now!" I shouted, as I took the gun of one of the policemen and threatened the Pilot.

"Okay, just don´t shoot!" The man shouted in terror before he steered, he Helicopter away from the building and into town.

"How far can this thing go?" I asked them.

"I..., we..., I..." The man stammered.

"How far!" I asked again, pushing the gun in his neck, of course the safety switch was still on but he needed not to know that little detail.

"Around 200 more miles!" The Co-pilot exclaimed.

"Nice, then get us towards Bordaussie and make no mistake, one false thing and your grave´s been dough, understood!" I shouted and they nodded eagerly.

" _What do you want there_?" Yin asked confused in a whisper.

" _There was a commercial that said that Merveille Million was attending an event there, for opening up a new Research facility, and that she would stay for a meet and greet_." I explained.

" _So you think this Merveille, which Nero spoke of too, is Merveille Million_?" Yin asked and I was certain that this Nero must have told her the same, trust Merveille and Red but no one else.

" _I can´t think of no one else..., as much as I know she is a luminary in the design of Mechas..., she will surely know if the Blank and Nero we have seen in our minds, are the ones who destroyed Pharaoh with their own Mechas and their forces._

 _It is only Natural that the People and authorities chase us, since we too used such forces, they do not want to take the risk of a second Incident like that._

 _Which means that we must find Merveille Million, if she once tried to stop Blank and Nero, then she will know more about these forces and how to suppress them or get rid of them..., or maybe how to control them_." I explained.

" _Yeah that makes sense..., I guess I just have to trust you on that._ " Yin explained with a smile and I nodded.

"Well then, off to Bordaussie!" I replied and the Pilots still frightened by us nodded eagerly, sweat flowing down their foreheads like the Niagara Falls.

One thing for sure, if we ever were to be caught, we would get in so much trouble for all of this.

We had already killed someone and murders with superpowers were most likely high on the blacklist of law-enforcements.

The next time we meet they surely will pull up the heavy machinery.

There were surely some hard times ahead.

 _ **To be continued...**_

 _ **A/N: and with this the second story has begun in which I tell you a bit about the Twins which May has spoken from in the fore-last Chapter of my main story, I hope you enjoy the story so far.**_

 _ **See you next time, yours truly, the Storyteller and his Books.**_


	8. The Rise of Yin and Yang II, Revelation

_**The Rise of Yin and Yang**_

 _ **II Revelation**_

 _ **During their Flight to Bordaussie, Yin´s Pov:**_

As we left the sky over Pharaoh and headed towards Bordaussie, we had some time to rest, of course we kept the guns still pointed at the pilot and copilot, you never know what stupid things they might try otherwise.

It was wrong what we are doing here, as children of a Judge we knew that it was, but it was better than the alternative.

The Policemen in the back were luckily still unconscious and cuffed and thus did not made a ruckus, not that they needed to even make one, my mind was in turmoil either way.

As I sat there, gun still pointed at the Pilot, I had time to think about all what had happened ever since these powers broke out.

Same as my Brother did.

" _You know Yin..., it´s kind of ironic..., this is so not like I imagined it to me, coming the case I would ever gain superpowers._

 _I always believed I would become a hero then, saving people with a reassuring smile, not a villain who threats other people and runs away once things go wrong_." Yang explained to me in a whisper and in his voice, I could hear sorrow as well as frustration and confusion all at once.

" _Well considering the fact that we neither gained these powers on our own volition and the fact that we were instantly shunned and hunted for them, the moment they awoke, it was but just a matter of time until we would be seen as such._

 _We barely understand these forces and we are far away from controlling them._

 _If anything, these forces were forced on us by a higher power, our life was saved but for what cost, our ordinary life has ignited within a blaze and all what is left is a pile of ashes, which stain our hands if we try and pick it back up_." I explained and he nodded.

I thought about what else to say, how to say it that he does not despair about it, he might have been the older twin, but I was the more mature one, at least Dad and Mom always said so.

Still this situation was nothing I could just easily digest, neither could he…., but there was also no reason to sugarcoat anything.

" _Of course, one each of the deaths we had caused by now, were indeed caused in acts of self-defense..., but with these powers, I doubt anyone will believe us, even when they have seen it on video._

 _We are seen as monsters, even by our own father…, it makes me wonder what Mother might have seen in us, if she was still alive…._

 _Would she have seen the same or would she have had compassion for us…?_

 _If we want to become heroes, than people first need to accept our existence at all…, however first we have to accept the same as well…., and believe me there are better things to accept, than the fact that in my chest beats the heart of one of the Mass-murders, who took us away our mother and destroyed most of our life._

 _As you know have those two, Nero and Blank, worked hard on making the entire Republic hate them._

 _We are loathed for something we haven´t done and something we never wanted to become, something out of our power..., but we have done things, which people do have a good reason to be mad at, even if we defended but our own lives._

 _Anyone out there only knows about things out of Context, so it is no wonder that they hate on us._

 _I wish they would listen to our story as well, but the way I know it, they won't and instead instantly throw us into prison, or worse into the lab for a thorough dissection._

 _Paranoid as our society is, this is not even an exaggerated suggestion._ " I replied.

" _I hope you are wrong, dissection surely sounds like the worst of both options, I rather say they will execute us once they know where we are and have cornered us once more, this time for real._

 _Or we going to be thrown in a cell for the rest of our lives, never to seeing the light of day anymore_." Yang whispered with a long-drawn sigh.

" _Both options surely sound like things, which I would love to avoid_." I mumbled and he nodded.

"So do I." he replied, breaking the whispering.

"So what are we supposed to do once we arrive in Bordaussie?" I asked.

"We will have to find Merveille Million, as I explained to you, she might know what is happening with us, she is rumored to be one of the smartest persons in the Republic after all, surely she can find a way to get these powers back out of us, or at least help us to contain them." Yang explained.

"You might be right but what makes you so sure that she would even help us at all, we are complete strangers to her, don´t you have any doubt?" I asked him.

"No, I´m not sure, not at all, but in my eyes it is better than the other option." He replied.

"And that would be what?" I asked.

"Trying to figure the extent of our powers out for ourselves, while being on the run…, what if we cause more damage that way, as when we would do it in a secured environment with supervision.

I understand one thing clearly Sister…, we are children who have found our father´s gun, unsure how to use it makes us more dangerous than everything else, especially when left alone and in the open." He stated and I looked in awe, he just described our situations better than I could ever do so.

"You sure are right with that." I stated.

"You kids…., do you have any idea what you currently are doing?" we heard a voice coming from next to us, it seemed as though one of the Police-men had reawakened.

"Trying to safe our life, keeping ourselves out of whatever you guys have planned for us, in short, we are fleeing, from you." I replied with a deadpanned expression.

"You honestly think you can flee forever, this Helicopter has GPS, no matter where you run and try to hide, we will find you!" the man stated with blazing eyes

"So, if we just leave this Helicopter midway, you guys won´t be able to find us anymore, good to know." Yang stated.

"Luckily we can float, maybe we even can fly, then we won´t need the Helicopter any longer." I stated and he nodded.

"Hey don´t you dare kill us too, unless you want to be shot down as soon as anyone finds you, I am sure that Pharaoh´s police station has already contacted the other islands.

Even if you reach Bordaussie or any other Island, you surely won´t get far, the whole Republic will be on the Hunt for you." The man explained.

"We do not plan to kill anyone ever again, however one thing is for sure, we know how to defend ourselves if we are attacked, so you better stay out of our way." Yang replied and I nodded.

"As if I would believe a bunch of murderers." He stated.

"Well look who´s talking, I bet you too shot criminals the one or other times and I doubt they all survived, so who gives you the right to call us murderers, when you aren´t any better." I stated.

"In contrast to you I have a Police-mark, I represent the Law and Order." The Man explained.

"Right you are…, but in contrast to you we do not kill on order, we didn´t meant to kill these guys at all, but we are also not going to let ourselves be killed off, for something we did not do.

And I would be damned if I would allow anyone to abuse or rape my sister.

We have gotten these powers…, out of whatever reason, and by now we only ever used them to defend ourselves, if we were out to kill people because we find glee in it, we three surely would not have this conversation right now." Yang stated and the Police-man gulped.

"There is a speech my grandfather used to say, `there is no monster born naturally, it is we, who give birth to them´." I stated and Yang nodded.

"It means that Beastkind is creating the monsters we all fear by itself, through hunting and ostracizing people they cannot understand, and other wild creatures who only live after their own instincts.

Maybe we have forces you fear, but if you do not attack us, then we won´t have to fight you back either…., if you hate on us, we surely won´t like you." Yang continued.

"There is truth in what they say, I guess." One of the pilots explained.

"You are silent!" The Police-man shouted at the Pilot.

"You are quite heated, I think it is time for you to cool down, sleep a round, that will do you good." I stated as Yang hit the man unconscious with a karate chop to the neck.

"How far is it still, until we arrive Bordaussie?" I asked the Pilot who gulped as he saw how the Policemen fell unconscious again.

"Only about 2 hours I would say, the Police-helicopters are the fastest of their kind." The Pilot explained.

" _That is good, that means that we might be able to still catch Merveille Million, before she can leave Bordaussie, all we then have to do is to convince her to help us_." Yang mumbled and I nodded before I looked out of the Window, over the vastness of the cloud-sea and the Sun which was setting slowly so slowly.

 _ **At Bordaussie, two Hours later, Merveille´s Pov:**_

" _Phew finally done for the day, all what is left is to get back in our room, put the shoes and clothes off and relax for an hour or two in the bathtub with champagne and a good book, maybe even a massage afterwards_." I thought as I walked alongside Beluga through _**the capital own, Schwarzwald,**_ here at Bordaussie.

We just were done with the Gala-dinner at the townhall, after inaugurating _**the new ADMEREFA, the Advanced Medical Research Facility**_ in town.

In contrast to Pharaoh was Bordaussie mostly left in peace from the destruction and havoc, wrecked by Nero and Blank.

We also had not much to be destroyed here either, even though we had a town wasn´t it big at all, just a few villages which had expanded over the years and then decided to combine their resources together, creating the Capital, Schwarzwald.

The Capital City, as well as the few Villages around it, had much luck compared to Pharaoh, which had suffered the most damage and causalities of all the attacked Islands in the Shepherd Republic.

Half a year had already passed ever since both, Nero and Blanck died in that Train-tunnel, at the hands of Red.

A fact which was both relief and grief in one for me.

I was relieved, as the both of them could no longer cause destruction and pile even more evil deeds on their back…, and in grief, because it made me realize just what could happen, when there was no mother to rightfully teach their children, if the father is a complete psychopath with god-complex.

Both Children were mine and as such I do hold much responsibility over their actions, especially now that Baion is no longer here to atone for them with me.

Not that I believe he would do so anyways, as coldhearted as he was.

Hybrids, they are unique in every right…, but maybe they are more necessary than we think, for evolutions sake.

There is so much we can learn form them, it is though a shame that there are only 6 of them alive anymore and that all 6 of them are living in hiding, even though I personally know 4 of them.

Well of course if I do not count the fact that I have no idea about the whereabouts of those other 2, Vermillion and Rouge, Hybrids I have yet to meet…, if they then have survived at all.

"You seem to be in thought honey…, what do you think about?" I was asked from the side, as I felt a smaller yet strong hand squeezing mine gently, the heat she radiated was quite comforting if I may say so.

"About Hybrids and their purpose in our world." I explained and Beluga Damiens looked at me with a curious expression.

"I see…, you not planning on creating even more of them, aren´t you?" He asked, vary of what my answer might be.

"I learned my lesson Beluga, Cetala was the last Hybrid I have given birth to, I swear…., and anyways do I deem them to be in a state, in which they are well capable of reproducing themselves, fairly well without my nor anyone's help." I explained.

"That thought still has time Merveille, they are still Children, let them live their lives before deciding for something like this." He stated in a clear voice.

"Of course, I would never dare to meddle into their love-life, but it would be interesting to see if they actually can create Hybrid-offspring, unfortunately we might not get to see a pureblood-hybrid, born from two Hybrids, as Red has Elh and I won´t force my Children into committing incest." I replied and he nodded vigorously.

"But still…., I wonder what would have happened if Blank and Nero would have never become evil, would they and Red, as well as Betakin, Alpharia and Cetala, have become one big family?" I wondered.

"Maybe, all we know is that we cannot change the past…, still..., if there would ever be children in need, blessed or cursed with such Powers, who don´t know why they have them or what to do with them, only that they are feared and ostracized for them, I would make it my mission to find and help them.

There has been a saying on Ragdoll in my family.

Demons aren´t always present, we are the ones to create them ourselves." Beluga explained and I nodded.

"I heard a similar one from my Grandfather once…., you know…, I am of the same believe.

I still think that if I had truly tried it, I could have been able to show Nero and Blank that the way Baion raised them was false, I could have given them the love they deserved to have.

If only I would have been able to awake my mother-feelings earlier, I could have saved them from the fate they had to suffer.

Maybe that is why I spoiled our children so much, back then as they were still so young.

Maybe it was my way to make sure they would not turn out like Blank and Nero, drunken on the power they held, but never knowing love, never understanding that the power they hold should not be used for their own benefit and to wreak havoc, just because they can.

I am certain, if I had come to know you earlier, we both could have convinced them, that using their power to suppress other people was wrong, terribly wrong." I stated and he gently pressed my hand as he forced me to look at him.

"Merveille, you are a good mother, let no one tell you otherwise for I know the truth, what happened with Nero and Blank was unfortunate and sorrowful, for sure, but ultimately you are the least one to blame on how they have turned out.

No one is born evil or good, we hold both sides within us, but it are the circumstances and the situations we are growing up in as well as our later decisions, which later on shape us to become either of both.

Maybe you are right, if you would have acted a little motherlier to them from the start on, they might not have been tempted to step over to the dark side which their Father showed them.

But I highly doubt that Baion would have allowed you to raise them with love anyways…., he needed weapons and tools without a subconscious, without scruple and a perspective in life other than the Order.

He needed hybrids for his plans, not children with feelings." Beluga explained, as he looked deep into my eyes.

"You did nothing wrong, nothing but giving birth to children in a place where love wasn´t allowed." He stated.

"You are a wonderful mother, our children can surely witness that Merveille, it was you who raised them, I did too but you were the one who spent the most time with them, who carried them in her belly for all that time before birth, you gave them love, comfort and joy at all times.

You have proven to be a good mother, after all you are the woman I fell in love with." He stated as he kissed my cheek, making me blush.

"You sure are right about that, my dear." I replied after a while of admiring him, overplaying the awkward scene, before I ruffled his hair.

"Merveille please don´t do that, this is embarrassing." He replied as he blushed deep red.

I had to chuckle about it though…, the height difference between us was devastating enough for his pride and walking around hand in hand didn´t make it any better, it might look for others as though I would go out with my little brother, not that I cared about any rumors or of any of other people´s assumptions, right now I was happier than ever.

" _Hey, have you heard about what happened in Pharaoh, it just appeared in the news, those 2 bastards are back, you know…., the ones who ran havoc in our Republic just half a year ago, they have been sighted_." I suddenly heard someone saying in a hushed voice.

" _No way, you must be kidding, I thought they were gone for good, why now, why have they returned after half a year_?" Another voice asked.

" _No clue but apparently they managed to flee from the police in one of their helicopters kidnapping anyone inside, two men are already dead after encountering them_." The first voice explained.

"Beluga did you heard that?" I asked the man at my side, who´s eyes were huge with disbelieve.

"This is impossible, we both know that Blank and Nero are dead…, do you think it are those other two, the ones who are still missing…, Vermillion and Rouge?" Beluga asked in shock.

"Hard to say…., for the general people they must be the same, regardless of how they look, but as you rightfully said, are Blank and Nero dead…, so it is quite possible that those two finally made their move." I explained.

"If so do you think it would be a good idea to inform the kids?" Beluga asked.

"I think we should first get ourselves a better picture, of what exactly goes on." I replied and he nodded.

"Look, they bring it in the news." I stated as we walked past a TV-shop in which the news were shown.

We entered the store to hear the sound and voices, if this was all true, we should not leave a crucial word being unheard by us.

" _The Incident happened about two Hours ago, as a pair of Criminals escaped persecution by the Police of Pharaoh after murdering two people, on two different places the night before._

 _The suspects are known as Yin and Yang Libra, formerly the Children of Judge Gilmore Libra, one of the most famous Judges from Pharaoh._

 _In an Interview the Father of the Kids was unable to express his feelings or give a clear answer on why his Children have done such a terrible thing_." The Commentator of the News-Channel stated as footage was shown of an alley.

Suddenly something came flying out of the same and the camera was rocked and tilted by a strong gust of wind or some invisible shockwave, until it showed the inside of the Alley.

Inside we could see two Persons using special powers, to defend themselves against two men, armed with knives and guns.

One was thrown into the wall by invisible forces, while the other one tried to shoot them, only to be dragged into a corner the same way.

One of the Persons was visibly Floating.

As the men were knocked out the Persons fled the scene, the Camera stopped just as their faces were clearly to see.

"Those are basically Kids, not older than ours." Beluga stated in awe.

"Yeah you are right, it is plain to see that they were attacked, its no wonder they would use their powers to escape such a situation, whether intuitive or unintended." I mumbled as I witnessed the next scene surely the same day.

The footage showed a dark-lit park, the Children were surrounded by a bunch of men, tried to flee only to be caught again, the boy was harshly beaten up, while some of those men attempted to rape the Girl.

It was then as the Boy stood back up, after nearly five minutes of lying there, most likely unconscious, while the girl fought harshly back.

The men attacked him but he simply punched them away, one of them into the trunk of a massive tree headfirst, most likely the second victim the News spoke of.

A glow of bluish Aura surrounded the boy, as he made the other men flee, then suddenly one of the Park-Guards arrived and took the boy down with a taser-gun, bringing him down to his knees, only for the Girl to attack the Guard instead, knocking the same unconscious, after recovering from what these bastards almost had done to her, to save her brother, from being multiple times shot with the taser by the Guard.

" _It was not intentionally that they killed them, all they wanted was to defend each other, but they did it with powers they have no control over and no clue how to raise of turn down their intensity_." I though as I looked at the face of the children, an expression of grief, inner torment and sorrow was easy to see.

And still the Media tries to make them look like loose cannons, even their own father isn´t on their side.

" _I don´t know why or how they suddenly have gotten these powers, but I am most ashamed that my own Children are indeed responsible for those murders….., I beg of you, Yin, Yang, come back and face your punishment, just as upright members of the society should do so, when they have done something terrible._

 _What you have done is not something petty, it is a disastrous crime to take someone's life, the men who have attacked you have been caught and they too will face their trial, but you have to do so too, don´t make things worse than they already are…., come back, your mother wouldn´t have wanted her children to be chased like criminals._

 _I cannot remember to have raised you, to commit such violence_." Gilmore Libra, Judge of Pharaoh explain, and his mine was one of well-played grief and sorrow.

" _What a showoff_." Beluga muttered and I could only nod to that.

"Those Kids need no persecution, they need professional help, someone to show them how to control their forces, to use them for the right thing instead.

They haven´t killed intentionally yet and it is better not to let it get that far." He stated and I nodded.

"You remember what we spoke about earlier, that if ever someone like Nero and Blank should come up, who hasn´t yet lost his/her heart, we would take it upon us to help him/her?" I asked and he nodded.

"We need to find them, find them and bring them in safe custody at the ranch…., if they meet Betakin and the others, they surely will be able to calm down and let us help them." He replied and I nodded, I had the exact same thought.

"But first we will have to find them, they can have vanished to god-knows-where." I mumbled as we made our way to the Harbor to get back to our Aircraft.

If we reach the Ranch, we might be able to find them over the Network of cameras in the Republic.

"We need to find them quickly, before they are getting cornered once more, the often they are forced to kill, the easier it gets to them to fall prey to the madness." Beluga stated as we rushed down the main-alley.

" _Look over there_." Suddenly we heard astounded voices, I looked to see several people look to the sky.

"What´s going on?" I mumbled as I looked up too.

"Beluga." I stated aloud as I halted him with a grip to his arm.

"What is wrong, what´s going on Merveille?" He stated before he saw my glance and looked up too.

Up there we could see how a helicopter chased two figures in the sky.

"They are flying, they really can fly, incredible…, those definitely are them, the Libra Twins." Beluga stated as he looked up with enhanced vision.

"They are chased towards the forest." I exclaimed as I broke in a run.

We needed to be there faster, but on foot it would at least last half an hour or even longer, to get to the forest behind the town, by that time, the Police might have already caught them.

"Isn't there a faster way?" I asked as I looked around.

"I got this Merveille." Beluga stated as he ran towards a man, who had just parked his Motorcycle and was about to walk away.

"Kurvaz General Beluga Damiens, I am in need of your assistance!" he stated aloud to the man, showing his mark, explaining to him, most likely a fake story of why we would need his Motorcycle, asap.

Surprisingly the man accepted and gave Beluga the keys.

"Merve, hurry up." He shouted as he tossed a Helmet over to me.

I opened the knot and let my hair loose, earning some amorous glances from some males, before putting on the helmet.

"Hold on tight!" He stated aloud, as he let the motorcycle roaring up like an angry beast.

"You got any idea how sexy you look with lose hair?" He asked and I blushed a little.

"Is that really relevant now?" I asked.

"No, I just wanted you to know." He replied with a cool smirk, making me blush even more and pressing myself a little tighter on him.

The ride towards the edge of the Town wasn´t long, maybe 15 minutes at most, but also because Beluga, although quite skillfully, drove like a madman trough the street, through alleys and even through pedestrian-zones, breaking more traffic-laws than necessary.

"Remind me that the next time you invite me to a ride on a motorcycle, that I drive that thing." I stated as I climbed off with wobbly knees.

" _I seriously thought I was a goner_." I thought as I calmed down my breathing.

"I can hear the Helicopter, they might be somewhere near the old Cemetery." Beluga explained uncaring, ignoring my angry glance at him for downplaying my problems.

"Then let us waste no more time, the faster we can find them, the faster we can assure that they neither hurt someone or that someone is hurting them." I stated as I strutted past him towards the forest.

"Let me go infront of you, just in case." He stated as his Nono-seal activated itself, staying on standby, ready to be used at any second.

"I guess you are right." I replied blushing a little, as I let him moving past me, while we followed a rural path into the forest up to the Cemetery.

There do had been some rumors of Criminal gangs hanging out around here, and the sun was already setting, it would not be the best of ideas to run headfirst into one of them.

"Huh…, it seems that the Helicopter is leaving the area…, but I still can feel their aura, they are still in here." Beluga stated after a while of walking, the Cemetery was deep within the forest on a clearing.

The edge of it was closed off by a huge wall and only two gates led inside, one on the path from the town and one from _**the village behind the forest, Elwood-village**_.

To be honest it was strange but a Cemetery always had a quite depressing atmosphere to it.

It wasn´t able to be scientifically explained, it was more a thing of the psyche of a person, cemetery equals death, death equals sorrow, sorrow equals depression.

However, I rarely found myself feeling insecure while being here, the last time I felt this way was perhaps after Grandpa and Grandma were buried.

But back then as well, Beluga was at my side, holding my hand while I cried in his shoulder.

"I´m kinda nervous." I muttered as we walked past several graves.

"Me too, I never liked Cemeteries much, they just kind of creep me out, all those dead bodies under the surface." Beluga stated and I saw how he blushed, I still remember how bad he was with horror movies and such stuff, the children often teased him with it.

After all it was one of the rare weaknesses their father had.

That and his inferiority complex due to his physical shape, Betakin and Alpharia almost managed to pass his height, which made him despairing, thinking that he would lose all authority over them this way.

He always got reminded of it when I petted his hair, looking at him from above…., although he says he doesn't like it, and although he never would admit it, he actually loved it to be caressed behind his ears…., not that I was any different there.

I felt how his hand touched mine and without a second thought I simply took it, making him flinch and blush deep red.

"T-thanks…" He mumbled as he looked aside.

"Who goes there?" Suddenly a loud voice asked.

"If you have come to get us, then you better turn back, we do not wish to hurt you." Another voice stated.

"Are you Yin and Yang Libra?" I asked aloud.

"Who want´s to know that, it is common sense to first introduce oneself before asking for names!" The voices replied.

"My name is Merveille Million and we do not wish to either capture you or fight, all we want to do is to speak with you." I explained.

"Who else is there?" The voice asked.

"I am Beluga Damiens, I am a Paladin and I am the Fiancée of Merveille…, as well as her guardian." Beluga stated and I saw, out of the corner of my eyes, how he blushed upon saying that, but he still held himself upright, with the aura of a warrior.

He still hadn´t asked me to marry him, out of the fear that I would be mocked by the public, for having a husband half the size of my own.

I hated the thought that he felt this way, I did not cared what the public says, I never did so before…, but out of respect for his feelings and those of my Children I just kept waiting, waiting for the day Beluga would embrace the idea of making it official.

I though hope that day comes soon.

"Have you any evidence that you are indeed Merveille and that this is no trap?" The voices asked us.

"I know that you are afraid, I know that you have gotten these powers without your consent and I am sorry for that, I never thought that Nero and Blank´s Forces would be able to be passed on to someone else.

I am partially responsible for your misery." I explained and suddenly we heard shuffling and movement, steps were coming closer.

Out of the Shadow of a Mausoleum I could see how two silhouettes emerged from the dark.

"Are you truly Merveille Million?" I was asked.

"Indeed I am, you must be the Libra Twins, aren´t you?" I asked and one of the silhouettes nodded, before they both stepped into the light.

Infront of us stood children, barely older than Betakin or Alpharia, 12 years old at most I would say.

A boy with dark-grey and white fur as well as white hair.

Both of his cheeks sported a triangular shaped spot of different fur, from the chin sharp up, in a deep blue color, similar to how Elh and Opera had it.

I do not know if it is a Genetic defect or not, for only a few people I know actually possess such a feature.

Then again, Blank had them in the exact same spot when he was alive, although he then did not possessed any fur.

The Girl which stepped next to the Boy, still vary of our presence, possessed blonde fur and Honey-blonde hair, the facial markings she possessed were on her forehead, as if they came from her ears down to her eyes, similar to Nero.

Other than these few similarities hadn´t they anything else in common, neither with Nero nor Blank, they looked like young innocent dizygotic Twins.

It was hard to believe that they had already Killed two men, although unwillingly and purely by accident.

If anything they were more afraid of us as we should probably be of them.

This gave us even more reason, to keep them from committing such a crime unintentionally, they had to understand to cherish life and only take it in the direst of moments and only as a final resort, when all other option fail and there is no other way to resolve a situation where they are forced to do so.

"Blank and Nero told us that we should find you." Yang Libra stated, to my surprise but even more so to Beluga´s.

"Blank and Nero…, told you…, but that is impossible, I saw their dead bodies, as we got them out of the destroyed Cassandra Cross, 6 months ago, there is no way they could have survived that, we proved that.

Are you really sure about it?" Beluga asked while Yin nodded.

"We did not saw them physically like we see you, maybe it was all in our mind, but Nero told me to trust in Merveille Million and in Red Savarin, but in no one else." The young girl explained in reluctance.

"I see…, tell me, how long do you have these forces..., when did they broke out the first time?" I asked them.

"Yesterday, as we were persecuted by that mob, they forced us to go into that Alley, Yin was unwell, sweating feverish, that's when they attacked.

At first I defended her with my martial-arts knowledge, but then that one guy draw a gun and aimed it at Yin.

He shot but before the Bullet nor I could reach my Sisters, some kind of Shockwave pushed us back and that guy out of the alley." Yang explained.

"Gravitational control, pulling and repelling, like both, Nero and Blank could use…, am I right in the assumption that it was the first time you floated Yin?" I asked and she nodded.

" _So it is no born force_." I though, as I remembered that both, Nero and blank were able to float even as Children and the assumption I had in the back of my head began to become to a concrete fact, step by step.

"What more can you tell us about your forces?" I asked.

"When those guys in the park attacked me, I suddenly could react super-fast, as if they moved in slow-motion, but I was unable to evade the taser of the Park Guard." Yang explained.

"Focusing and acceleration, you can focus on several people, read their possible motoric movements and physical signals, put the pieces of the puzzle together in milliseconds and evade physical attacks that way, making it look as if they move in slow-motion, or as if you predict their movements.

However you are not able to evade something, which moves faster than physically possible for you to evade.

A Taser projectile moves normally at a speed of 50m/s, a gun projectile far faster than that.

In that alley, you must have unconsciously erected a forcefield of electromagnetic energy around yourself and suddenly strengthen it, before the projectile left the gun.

Maybe you must have calculated the possible trajectory of the projectile by seeing the point to which the barrel was pointing.

It seems as if those forces you possess help you to enhance, under other things, your motoric as well as cognitive abilities to the max, forcing them to switch into overdrive, focusing it on one single moment, but it leaves you extremely exhausted because you still cannot truly bear the strain of that." I explained and I knew that everybody was lost already.

"I do not truly understand but I understand that these forces of us do not seem to surprise you as much as they should do, am I right?" Yang asked us with much curiosity.

"I know a few people who can use similar forces, Beluga for example can use the same forces and even more, not to mention my own Children do so as well." I explained and they looked at me with disbelieve.

"Blank and Nero were originally also my children, at least they were created out of my cells and those of their father, Baion." I explained and they gulped.

"So does that mean…, you are the one who unleashed them two on the world?" Yin asked.

"In a way yes, in a way no…, it is true that I artificially gave birth to them both, but I surely did not wanted them to turn out evil as they later on ended up.

That was all Baion´s fault, he only ever used them as weapons and tools for his plans.

My third Child, Red, was different, I gave personally birth to him, he was born, rather than being created, but he too was a hybrid.

However he luckily turned out to be the complete opposite of both Nero and Blank, his forces also did not showed for the longest of his life, only about 4 months before they attacked the Shepherd Republic, so almost a year ago.

Maybe he turned out because I actually treated him with something similar to Motherfeelings, until the moment I had to separate from him, in order to safe him from Baion's attempts of discarding himself of Red." I explained as we sat down on two benches which were located here on the Cemetery.

"He tried to get rid of him…, but the way you talk about him, he was barely an infant back then, am I right?" Yin asked and I nodded.

"it was one of the reasons why I left Baion and tried to stop his plans by burning down the Lab where we once researched together.

It is one of the grey spots of my past, the time I had there was not all bad, but in the end it turned out to be but a big fat lie.

I helped Red to escape the facility but I knew if Baion would find me, he would also kill Red without scruple, so I had to hide him, hat I died by giving him away into safer and more competent arms.

My 3 other Children, Betakin, Alpharia and Cetala are not Baion´s children but Beluga´s children and although they too have similar forces to Blank, Nero and Red, are they living a peaceful and normal life without fighting, until the moment comes where their forces are required.

If you decide to trust me and follow me, I will see that you can do so too, we will show you how to master your forces, how to fully control them, to use them for the benefit of the Society, rather than just for yourself.

It all depend on your own decision.

You can be either good like Red and my Children…, or you will end up like Blank and Nero, the choice is yours." I explained and they were quite taken aback.

"Why do we have these powers, where do they come from?" Yang asked us and I sighed.

"As I said before, I might be partially responsible for that, so it is also my duty to clean up your messes." I explained and they looked confused.

"Have you guys had any surgery lately?" I asked them bluntly.

"Indeed, we had…, our hearts and several other organs were transplanted, after a terrible accident almost killed us, that accident happened during the time that your Children ran havoc in Pharaoh, they killed our mother and almost us as well!" Yin stated in anger as she was reminded of it.

"We were trapped in a class room, gas filled the same, we though we would suffocate, every second was hell, and then as we heard voices we though that the rescue we begged for came, but those voices unleashed hell upon us, as the gas was ignited.

Several organs had to be replaced and we laid in coma for 2 months.

If we wouldn´t have gotten these hearts, we might have died." Yang explained and I nodded, the thought I had solidified itself to a rock-hard fact.

"The hearts and organs we had extracted from the bodies of Nero and Blank, had been used for transplantation on you and maybe on other patients, as they were accidently switched with the organs that actually were meant for the transplantation.

We wanted to keep the organs, to examine them and be able to find a clue about the forces of Hybrids.

By the time we came to that, we had to discover to our terror that the organs we had on the table were ordinary organs, of several patients that had died during the Incident as well but whose organs were still intact.

You cannot imagine how much I feared the consequences of that, I always wondered what might happen to the ones who had gotten the organs.

Unfortunately and also quite strangely, were there no records to who have gotten the hearts, so we could not find you earlier." I explained and Yang nodded.

"Most likely because father bought the hearts for a large sum, under the hand, to ensure that we were treated first before anyone else, we got most of the organs faster than others, if we have almost all of the organs from Blank and Nero, then it is no wonder that we have developed such powers." Yang stated and I nodded.

"Although we wanted to examine it, did we at S.I.T.K.A. hold onto the assumption and believe that the source of the forces the two possessed, lied most possibly in their hearts and that even after their death, a rest amount of these forces has still been contained within the organs and some memories might still be contained in their DNA, which would explain why you had that vision of Nero and Blank speaking to you.

You could say that pieces of their souls were still stuck in their hearts.

And these pieces, alongside with their powers, have gone over to you now." I explained.

"I see, so we got these forces but we weren´t born with them?" Yin asked after she had calmed down and I nodded.

"Indeed, that's why we need to teach you how to use them, as it aren´t your own, you will need to get a feeling for them, so that one day you will be able to willingly activate and deactivate them." Beluga explained.

"And where are we going to learn, are you going to put us in a cell, use us as guinea pigs?" Yin asked as she began to get angry again.

"We wouldn´t do such a thing, you will live with us on the ranch for the time being, together with us and our Children, as a family, we won´t do anything you don´t want to do or which isn´t necessary…., you have my word!" Beluga exclaimed loudly, in an authoritarian tone, as he grabbed the shoulder of them both, startling both Kids.

But not more than the sudden sound of rotor-blades, many rotor-blades.

"The police, they haven't given up yet, they must have brought reinforcements!" I stated aloud over the noise.

"You better decide now, either you trust us and let us help you or you will have to look for yourself, how to deal with the witch-hunt which the Media has let loose, soon everybody will be after you, for sure!" Beluga explained loudly.

"If you decide to fight anyone that tries to get you and if you resort to killing people for your own safety and wellbeing, then there will be no other choice left to us but to take you guys down and indeed imprison you.

Don´t become the monsters they see in you, if you do that you will be able to live a peaceful life." Beluga explained

"I don´t want to become a monster." Yin whined as she grabbed the arm of her Brother.

"You aren´t monsters, Nero and Blank weren´t monsters either, even when the whole world would see them as such.

All they had was a false education by Baion, they didn´t knew it better, all their life they were taught that they were better, superior to us normal Caninu´s and Felinekos, instead of Co-existence did they only learned from Baion, that we were to be exterminated by them.

It is always a matter of education and how to be raised…, no child that is born in this world is either bad or good, a child needs a boundary, to grow up righteously, if he/she hasn't that, the child will end up uncaring for the world and other people.

If a child lacks empathy and compassion for other people, they will end up as easily persuaded to do the wrong thing, by someone who manipulates them and uses them only as a tool.

Even if they have done bad things, won´t I ever say that I regret to have created them, they were brought to life for a reason, and that is all that counts." I explained as I stepped over to them and past them, walking towards the Mausoleum behind them, entering the empty hall, in whose walls the coffins of the Million-family were stuck within.

There was a Grave which had no name but it well had a content.

"After their organs were taken, they were secretly cremated and buried in this grave, every month since their death I come and tell them what has changed ever since they died, I tell them about the Shepherd Republic, how the same still survived and build itself back up again, the world they thought to have to end, was still remaining, going on as it always had.

I know, thanks to Red, that in the end they felt remorse for their actions.

Their last thoughts and words had been saved in the Matrix of the Cassandra Cross, which I used to combine with Red´s Dahak, to create the Septentrion.

Apparently, he saw and heard them a last time, after his fight with Baion, as the same was swallowed up by Tartaros, after his defeat.

Monsters without scruple do not feel any remorse.

Nero and Blank were like two children who had found a shotgun but weren´t sure how to use it.

One parent was not there to keep them from playing with it, and the other parent couldn´t care less about it, looking away from it.

I swore not to make the same mistake twice." I stated as I looked at them, after I walked back out of the Mausoleum.

"Both of you, come with us, Yin and Yang Libra, and we will make sure that your life, the one you knew and wanted to live on, will somehow continue, maybe you cannot see your home, your father and Friends anymore, but we will see to let you live a normal life. " I stated as I held out my hands.

It lasted a while but eventually they took both of my hands.

"Merveille we need to get out of here!" Beluga stated as the noise of the Helicopters was ear-deafening.

"I already contacted the White Whale, they send us a cruiser which takes us to the Ranch, they should be here in a while, we need to get back towards the town." He explained and I nodded.

"Follow us, we need to keep moving, or else they catch us.

Use this." I stated as I gave them the Helmets we wore earlier.

Together we made our way out of the Forest.

We hid within the bushes as the Helicopter flew over us, searching in the area.

It lasted until dusk before we arrived back in town.

The cruiser was waiting for us at the Harbor.

"Eh…, aren´t we taking it?" Yang asked us as we walked past the Harbor instead.

"They might search at the harbor as well, we only asked for a Cruiser we never said that we would also fly back home today.

No we fly home in another machine, I have an old friend who can surely help us, he still owes me a favor or two." I stated as we walked up to a trailer, near the old junkyard of the town.

"Cacao, are you there?" I asked as I hammered on the door.

"Coming!" a voice shouted from inside.

"Have you folks any idea how late it is, can a proper guy not even chill infront of the TV after a hard day of work and enjoy a cold beer…., oh it´s you, what brings you here?" The Unkempt man who literally ripped the door out of the frame asked us, well more, yelled at us.

"Nice to see you too Cacao, I am in need of your assistance…, again." I stated as my eyes wandered to the small Aircraft that stood on the Junkyard.

"I see, the young Lady has to get barely past the law again, well if it takes off one of the favors I still owe you, I am all in for it." So what will it be this time, do you need some parts of illegal technology, or some kind of manuals and construction plans or a getaway-ticket?" The man with the toothy grin asked.

"We would like to use one of the getaway tickets today." I explained and he nodded.

"Well then, come on in, there has to be a good reason you guys need to get away, Old Man Cacao knows when to keep his mouth shut about things, you can trust me." Cacao stated as we walked into the Trailer.

"You sure we can trust that guy…, and what does he mean with illegal technology, Merveille?" beluga asked me in suspicion.

"We can and sometimes even I need more power in my machines than legally allowed, especially when I need to get some results done….

Don´t look at me that way, what did you expect, that your Salamander runs all according legal standards, of course not, if it would you would be dead by now." I exclaimed a si looked aside from his accusing glance.

I was a researcher, a technician, I use anything I can use, if available to me.

"How do you even know that guy?" he asked.

"Quebec Introduced me to him, apparently they once were in the same team together, before the Kurvaz was truly established, apparently he was a Air-Racing-star once, but that's already a couple of years ago." I explained.

"And how come he owes you some favors?" Beluga asked.

"Because I helped him solve a case from his past, to restore his honor, that was early after I entered the Kurvaz, maybe you remind yourself, Quebec asked me if I might help him with a client, who believed that someone was after his life, after his Machine malfunctioned and crash-landed, almost killing him, that was Cacao.

I managed to find out that the Machine he once flew in his last race had indeed been manipulated.

The Racing team went bankrupt because of other evidences of corruption and illegal businesses, ever since he owes me." I explained and he nodded.

"So how´s Quebec, haven´t seen that old lad in ages, he should visit good old _**Cacao Grenouille**_ more often, it slowly but steadily gets lonely here, so all alone." The old man explained.

"Ever thought of hiring someone?" I asked as I looked around, a nice place was it definitely not but I had seen worse.

"Too much hassle with the last one I had here, couldn´t do a thing but wanted the same salary like one who actually does work, I threw him out after barely a week.

I tell you there is no depending on those youngsters nowadays, now Betakin, that young boy is someone who I would like to pay, he sure has a good head on his shoulder, he is smart and interested just the kind of man I search for." Cacao explained.

"Maybe but I told you my thoughts already., anyways, about that getaway." I replied and he waved off.

"Sure thing, well then, come on, lets hurry I wanna be back, before the Shield closes." He stated and so we walked out o the Trailer over to the tiny Aircraft.

"Where to?" Cacao asked.

"The Million Ranch, East Bordaussie, behind Elwood, secluded Island." I explained and he nodded to himself as he started the motors.

"Got it, well then, buckle up, this old Lady hasn´t fly in quite a while." Cacao stated as the engine stuttered, before it came to live.

"Well then, up, up and away." He shouted with a sheepish smile before _**the small Airship, the Albatross**_ , took off the ground, floating slowly but steadily upwards, away from the Junkyard.

"So who are you friends with the helmet?" Cacao asked bt I kept me mouth shut, same as the others.

" Ah I see, the less I know the better for me, guess that is the best way to live and survive in this world." He stated uncaring, not offended at all, laughing it off as unimportant.

"Thanks for not digging." I replied and he blinked at me.

"You can count on me, I keep my mouth shut." He stated with that toothy grin of his, as the Aircraft lifted up in the air and made its way over the town in the dark of the night.

No Helicopter nor a patrol-ship was in sight, as the Albatross cut through the wind, heading east.

 _ **To be Continued….**_

 _ **A/N: hello and thanks for reading the second part of Yin and Yang´s Origin Story, and with just a little part it will end, until we go over to the present Days of them, I hope you all like these Origin Stories so far, there are surely more to come, please read and Review.**_

 _ **Yours truly, the Storyteller and his Books.**_


	9. The Rise of Yin and Yang III, Tutorial

_**The Rise of Yin and Yang**_

 _ **III Tutorial**_

 _ **Over the Skies of Bordaussie, Yang´s Pov:**_

The Ride on the Albatross was as long as it was eventless, since it was a fairly old and simple Aircraft, none of the Police-helicopters became suspicious of us.

Even when asked over radio, all what Mr. Cacao needed to answer, was that he had a late client beyond Elwood, who needed an old machine to be picked up.

It was the perfect disguise if I may say so.

"We soon will arrive, Children, then we going to get us something to eat." Mrs. Million explained to us as we looked out of the window.

"Thank you…, I guess." I stated and she nodded.

Yin clambered herself on my arm, not sure about all the noise the Aircraft made, as well as being still wary of the entire situation.

"How is it at the Ranch?" I asked.

"Expect of a few things is it but a normal Ranch, we have some Cowboars and other livestock.

The Ranch was a Heritage from my Paternal Grandparents and it is since ancient times in the possession of the Million Family." Mrs. Million explained.

"I´ve read somewhere that the Million Family is one of the Oldest Families of the Republic, their Bloodline dating to the times before the founding of the Shepherd Republic, maybe even before the famous War of Sun and Moon, the one with the Lupycans and the Felidions." Yin stated from behind me.

" _ **The National Library in Pharaoh**_ had a couple of _**old History books, in which some of the oldest families were listed up**_ , and there was yours in as well, along other old families like the Royal Shepherd Family, the Canine Clan from Basset, the Napage Clan and the Sacher Clan from Andalusia and several other Clans which still exist today, some more, others less populated." Yin continued and I saw a glimmer of astonishment in Mrs. Million´s eyes.

" _So Gren and Calua are of such famous old Clans, never would have believed such a thing just by looking at them…_

 _Then again, I barely know anything about their pasts, as they rarely speak about it…., same as Opera….., even during the interrogation several Months ago I got nothing but superficial informations, not even the reason of why they helped Bruno even after seeing his character._

 _Little I knew about the rumored tragedy at Kranz Manor, that a fire killed nearly anyone and that only a few kids were rescued by the Kurvaz, who coincidentally had been stationed not far away from it._

 _Apparently, Opera, Gren and Calua shall have been under those few survivors, that´s all I know and have found out, most of the records have either been lost or was classified_." I heard her muttering to herself.

"Seems as though we have arrived at our destination, we are happy that you have chosen Albatross Airlines for your vacation and we hope you still have a nice travel." We heard Mr. Grenouille´s playful speech as the Aircraft dived down.

As we looked out of the Window, we could see a couple of large houses and staples in the dark, the lights in the house were on and the lanterns along a small landing space were also illuminated.

"I contacted our kids earlier to leave the lanterns on and that we would come home for a few days, until the police have given up searching for you, then we can bring you to the White Whale, to the residential quarters of S.I.T.K.A.

From then on you will live and learn there, we will give you a complete remodeling, to change your appearance as well as a new identity, for school you will be taught by our several tutors on board, who also teach the children of the various researchers, who are living upon the White Whale.

It won´t be easy, but it is better than being chased without a day of rest." Mr. Damiens explained to us.

"But wouldn´t they recognize us, what if they decide to deliver us to the police after restraining us…, and what is S.I.T.K.A even about?" I asked.

"Special Intervention Team of the Kurvaz Agency, that is the simplified name of it.

Originally it was called, _**S.I.T.F.E.L.D, Secret Intelligence Task-Force for Espionage, Law-Enforcement and Defense against Extraordinary Threats**_.

Established after Merveille started her carrier in the Kurvaz and while the White Whale was being Constructed.

Merveille and I searched in secret for extraordinary persons, with skills surpassing that of any normal person, even if trained in high-performance sports.

We have snipers with extreme skills, Martial Arts Masters, Veterans of the Home-Land Security as advisors, Engineers who construct the craziest inventions, special trained soldiers…., and of course, our children, Hybrids and Paladins, able to use special forces, for the benefit of the Republics Safety.

Over-all said, we have the most eccentric people the Republic has to offer in one place, but one each of them a valuable asset to the cause.

You could call us a secret service, the phantom division, or the Agency, like the ones you know out of Comics, which uphold the peace in the republic from within the shadows." He continued and honestly, I was in awe.

"So, Super-Heroes do exist?" I asked with eyes full of hope.

"Well, I wouldn´t per-se say that we are Super heroes…, but the children will surely explain things better to you than I or Merveille can do, it is better to hear it from those of your own age." Mr. Damiens stated, as the Albatross touched the ground and came, after several wrong squeaking sounds, to a stillstand.

"Well then, here is the end station, if I am no longer needed, I will make my way back, they will soon close the Shield, I have to be there before that, otherwise I have to camp outside tonight!" Mr. Grenouille explained aloud, as he, once we all had climbed out of the Aircraft, brought the same back to life, to fly back home.

"Keep care of yourself, Cacao, Quebec would be sad if something happens to you." Mrs. Million explained and the Old man nodded.

"Naturally, I want to live for a few years more you know, well then, make it good." He stated as we closed the door.

"Make it better." Mrs. Million stated with a smile.

"That I do, well then, off we go!" He stated over speaker, before he set the Aircraft in motion and after a few failed attempts, finally took off, right before the cliff of the little island.

"Well then, we should get inside, its still not that safe outside, even so far away from Schwarzwald and Elwood." Mrs. Million explained as she motioned us to follow her.

"Mom, Dad!" Suddenly we heard it coming from the main house as a few Kids in our age appeared.

A boy with short brown hair, sandy-brown fur, pale-green eyes and a big smile on his face.

He was definitely an attentive and smart person.

The girl had darker hair than her brother and a few strains of white hair, she possessed auburn eyes and brown fur all over he body expect her chin and snout, which was sandy-beige.

She appeared to me as a mischievous but friendly person.

"Betakin, Alpharia, how are you guys?" Mrs. Million asked as she picked up her daughter with laughter while Mr. Damiens embraced his son dearly, a little it reminded me of how Mom and Dad always played with us.

Automatically, to avert my sight from this portrait of a happy family, my eyes dropped to the floor, I felt how someone took my hand and I was sure, Yin felt the same way as I did.

 _ **Yin´s Pov:**_

As I looked at my brother, I could plainly see how the sight before us hurted him, thought I was sure that all of them did it completely unintentionally, it was a happy moment for them, while for us it was an agonizing one, as our family had long been broken.

Mom died, because of Blank and Nero´s attacks, and Dad casted us away, because we suddenly possessed the very forces her feared and hated, reminding him of it.

The death of our mother hit us hard, but father was absolutely devastated because of it, I think that was one of the reasons why he paid such a large sum to have our life saved, not just because we were his children, but because we were his wife's children, the last family he had and a permanent reminder that mom had even existed in the first place.

Us suddenly having these forces, must look like a massive betrayal to him, his money saved our life, but it also cursed it.

If we had only have developed these powers, but never truly used them, he would have hushed it up and hid us at home, let us have private tutors which he paid generously for them to keep their mouth shut, should they find out, that's for sure.

But now we had become murderers, each of us had killed one man, no matter if intentionally or not, we became a combination of the very existences he hated most in his life, Murderers and Hybrids.

Our life as a Family had ended, and seeing this happy one infront of us, was hurting us more than anything else.

I knew they did not do it intentionally but still…

I grabbed Yang´s hand and held it, for calming myself down but also for giving him emotional support.

"Alpharia, Betakin, we wish to introduce you to someone, please, take of your helmets." Mrs. Million stated and we nodded.

Slowly, as if the time passed in slow-motion, we took of the helmets stepping closer, reluctantly we dropped them, revealing our faces, the light of the Lantern illuminating us.

Of course the eyes of the Children went huge, our faces had been all over TV, in every News Channel, it was impossible for them not to know us.

"Those Two are Yin and Yang Libra and from today on they will live with us for a while, until we can give them a quarter in the White Whale.

Please be friendly to them, they´ve been through a lot." She explained to them as they looked in confusion and fear.

"Have you…, done it intentionally?" The boy, Betakin, asked us, well more stammered and even though he did not spoke it out loud, was it clear what he meant with that.

"No, we did not…, we were cornered and thought to have to die as they came at us with knives and guns, we were simple children, who knew but a little hand to hand combat…, as those forces broke out of us, we were as shocked as them, we never knew about them…

According to your mother it could well be, that we don´t even were born with them, but only possess them since our surgery half a year ago, as most of our damaged organs had been replaced, with organs not meant to be for transplantation but investigation.

They attacked us…, and we did just defended each other….., we are not to blame for what happened, understood!" Yang answered loudly for all of us to hear.

More in fear and sorrow, as I still held his hand, he began to tear up and I took him in an embrace, for him it was especially hard…, as he loved superheroes more than anything, having become a villain to the public was hurting him mentally.

"I see…, so it is as we have thought, it was plain to see that you defended each other and I think we might would have done the same…, however, there is one thing I cannot tolerate." Betakin explained.

"W-what is it?" Yang asked unsure.

"That you say that you aren´t to blame for it…, maybe you are not to blame for what they were about to do, it was a situation out of your control, but to say that you have nothing to do at all with it, is not possible, even with all they have done should you not forget that you killed them, you took a life and that is something you shall never forget.

Maybe they would have been thrown into jail if they were caught, before they could have stabbed you, reflecting on their actions for a long time, overcoming their sorrow and thirst for revenge and starting over…, eventually…, but you guys, with your action you took them the chance to ever redeem for their crimes, to ever have a second chance.

That is a fact which cannot be downplayed, no matter what and it should not have to be.

It is not a nice memory for sure, but it is a memory worth to be reminded, to understand that every life is precious no matter who lives it.

Of course it is a hard lesson to learn…., sometimes you just want to forget some people, want them to vanish without a trace, their existence erased out of the world-history…, but even if you have to kill someone, do not speak about it as if it doesn't concern you at all, have you understood that?" Betakin asked us with narrowed eyes and fixated glance, next to him Alpharia looked similar menacing.

His words stirred something up in me, and for the first time in these last few days the realization, that I had killed someone, came at me with almighty force, where there had always been excuses made and memories of it blocked, was there no way I could do so any longer, I killed a man , that was a fact, and as Betakin rightly said, should I neither forget it, or downplay it.

"I…, I understand your reasoning…, and I will accept it." I stated with clear eyes, same as my brother.

"If you understand that we can become friends I would say…, well then, welcome to the Million Ranch, we have enough rooms in here and will get you one or two of them ready.

Please come on in!" Betakin replied and we nodded reluctantly.

It was only natural for them, to be vary and suspicious of us, right now we weren´t the best company to wish for, most likely the Police would come to investigate here, after all the pilots must have heard our conversation, even if the sound of the Rotor-blades was ear-deafening.

As we stepped over the porch into the house we were greeted by a cozy warm temperature, the smell of freshly cooked eggs and bacon, the feeling of friendly hospitality, a welcoming atmosphere.

"You guys have cleaned up, nice going." Mr. Damiens explained as he stepped inside and nodded with an approving look on his face.

"It becomes rare that you stay here for a few days, so we wanted to make it as comfortable to you as possible…., you guys are always ever working, we barely see you." Alpharia explained with a huff and little I understood…., that their parents coming back was supposed to be a happy situation to them.

That they brought suspects like us with them home, was most likely but a nuisance to the Children, we weren´t expected and it was evident in their reluctance towards us.

"Please make yourself a home." Mr. Damiens explained as he walked past us and motioned us to follow him.

"Can we…, really?" I asked and they all nodded.

"T-t-thanks." I stated and so we stepped inside of the living room.

On the couch infront of the Television sat a young girl with blonde hair and blonde fur, bright green eyes and a curious glance, looking over the back of the seating towards us.

"Cetala, come and say hello." Miss Million explained as she looked at the little girl with love.

The same climbed down from the couch, looked around the corner at us, before running up to her mother and hiding behind the same.

"Have no fear, they are no bad guys." Mrs. Million explained to the same while cuddling with her.

"H-hello." The shy little girl stated and suddenly I felt a strange kind of feeling within me, it felt as though the girl radiated a comfortable heat by its mere presence, a heat that would melt every frozen heart, a heat that made you realize just how precious the little girl infront of them was.

"Cetala what did we tell you about that one thing?" Mrs. Million explained and suddenly the feeling I had vanished as fast as it came.

"I´m sorry." The little girl stated still clambering to her mother.

"What…, what did she do?" I asked confused as that comfortable feeling had vanished.

"She dived into your mind, to find out if you are a threat to her or not, she often does that to people she doesn´t know, most people barely notice it as such, they just feel themselves attracted to her in a certain way, like finding her overly cute, maybe they feel a comfortable heat or they can´t take their eyes of her.

Yeah, she has strong forces, very strong indeed…, she might look like an Angel, but sometimes she can be a real little devil." Mrs. Million stated, as she playfully flicked the nose of her daughter lightly.

"Anyways, you guys must be hungry, just let me cook something real quick which goes along to the Bacon and Eggs, why don´t you chill a bit, you guys need not to fear anything here.

Betakin, Alpharia, can you prepare the rooms for them?" Mrs. Million explained, while her Children nodded.

"Please by all means, let us help, you have already done so much for us, this is the least we can help with." I stated, Mother taught us to always repay a favor as soon as possible and not take it for granted.

"Alright if you say so, can anyone of you guys Cook?" Mrs. Million asked.

"I did cook a few things from time to time, when moms was busy or away from home…, and after she died…, but I would not say that I am a professional." I explained and she nodded.

"That´s good enough I guess, Cetala would you be a dear and help us too?" She replied and her youngest daughter nodded.

"Yang, please help the others to prepare the room, we will be only needing one, we don´t want to take away too much space, please do not make a fuss about our presence, I swear we won´t disturb your life." I explained and he nodded.

"Please by all means, we are glad to have you here…, I know this is all new, to all of you kids, but especially because you are special, it is important that you can get along with each other.

As we explained to you Yin and Yang, are we secretly working for S.I.T.K.A., which means that we take on the threats which the normal defense services cannot defeat, we are in need of your Kids assistance with your forces and for that you need to learn to work together." Mrs. Million explained as she looked at all of us.

After a while we nodded in understanding.

"Is there anything I can help with, Love?" Mr. Damiens asked his Fiancée, to overcome the resulting awkward silence that began to spread.

"You could get us some more firewood from outside, we are soon running out of it in here, if we want to keep it burning." Mrs. Million replied.

"Roger that, consider it done." Her Fiancée stated before he walked outside of the door.

"Well then, let´s show you your room, c´mon, we got a lot to do." I heard Betakin saying to Yang as the same was pulled away, along with the older kids.

"Well then, let´s get to it, shall we?" Mrs. Million stated as she put on an apron.

"Here for you, Yin." She stated as she took another apron from the cupboard and reached it over to me, for me to wear.

"T-Thank, Mrs. Million." I stated, as I looked at the neon-pink color of the same, which just had to be in heart-shape.

I might be a girl, but not every girl loves pink and I was one of those who did not…, in a way I was glad that Yang was not here seeing me in this embarrassing outfit.

He would never let me live it down.

"Oh please dear, by every means just call me Merveille, only my subordinates call me Mrs. Million, but I am still not married so Miss Million would be more accurate to say." Merveille explained and I looked up in surprise.

"Why aren´t you and Mr. Damiens married, I mean, the way I see it you have already Children, three of them at that?" I asked unsure, I always though that if you have more than one child with a man it means you automatically are married, at least ethically.

"Beats me…, I could now list various reasons for it up, but most of them are my own assumptions and one each of them could be false…, to be honest I am not really sure why Beluga hasn´t yet asked me to marry him…, but I also do not want to force him to a decision.

Marrying someone is supposed to be a binding contract, at least so it was ages before, once you are married, it means that you stay with your partner until death does part you, just as the vow demands it.

But nowadays, in one year, you see more divorces than marriages.

Maybe it is good that not everything has yet been engraved in stone…, but I do wish to share this special bond with him someday." She stated and her look was plagued with melancholy and hope alike.

"Do you think he is reluctant because he has second thoughts?" I asked, before I clasped my hands to shut my mouth, fearing that my question might have been a little too forward.

But Merveille seemed as indifferent as before.

"I don´t think that´s the case, I know he loves me and he knows I love him too…, one day we will make it official, I am sure about that." Merveille stated with a smile which seemed neither fake nor natural, simply neutral.

" _I would rather say, that he fears to have nothing but himself to offer to me…, but he is more than enough for me….., I told him so over and over again, why can´t he see that…, if only he would value himself a little more_." She mumbled, as she looked outside the window towards her husband, who was chopping firewood near the stables.

"Can you wash the salad for me, please?" She asked to change the topic and I nodded, telling myself that it might be for the best, before I forfeit my relation with her.

I hoped that Yang had an easier time than me.

 _ **Yang´s Pov:**_

Nothing was more awkward than to work next to people who were vary of your existence, of your presence near them.

It was plain to see that I was not trusted by Betakin and Alpharia Million and to be honest, I could understand them damn right.

"So you two have forces too, am I right?" Alpharia asked after a while of setting up the bed.

"Yeah…, though we never knew them prior to yesterday, ever since that accident at school, 6 months ago in pharaoh, our life has changed drastically." I explained.

"You said something about a surgery you two underwent?" Betakin asked curious.

"Yeah, due to that accident several of our organs had been damaged and needed to be replaced.

Your mother is of the assumption that the organs we originally should have get, have somehow been mixed up with the organs of Nero and Blank, which were still intact after their death and were to be examined to understand hybrids better.

Somehow the forces the two of them had possessed must have gone over towards us, as their DNA mixed up with ours.

Their Organs saved our life, but it is still a mystery to me how we even survived that transplantation, why didn´t our body rejected the organs, I mean, Nero and Blank, they looked so different to us, they were neither Caninu nor Felineko as much as I can tell.

Then again, if our body would have rejected the Organs we would surely have died, it is a miracle that we survived that explosion at all." I explained.

"The healing-factor of a Hybrid." Betakin explained and I looked confused.

"Hybrid-cells regenerate faster than that of normal Felineko or Caninu, superficial wounds heal within second, but deeper wounds still need some time, although not as much as the same wounds being inflicted on normal people.

Somehow your body was compatible with the organs, cells and Blood type of Hybrids, out of whatever reason, that's how your wounds have healed so fast." He stated and I was in awe.

"It would explain it I guess, how it was possible that we regained consciousness after only 2 months and that we neither possess any scars from that time, none but the scars of the surgery, where our body had been cut open.

We look just like before the incident, I never truly understood it either, but whenever father looked us…, now I understand it.

He must have seen how we healed up, how we returned to our former selves, as if never something had happened, in less than 6 months.

I was strange to us as well, but we deemed it to be the wonders of modern medicine.

It was clear to us that father must have paid a large sum of money to have us treated as fast as possible, we thought he might have paid for plastic surgery or something similar as well and that due to the drugs in the hospital our mind was still foggy and we simply forgot about those surgeries.

But with your explanation, it does make sense I guess…., maybe that is because Dad isn´t our Biological Father." I stated and they looked in shock.

"Wait, he isn´t?" Alpharia asked.

"yeah, they do not know it…, and neither does my Sister, but I have found out about it, several months ago, as I found some old documents of my mother, as I searched for a nice Photo of her, for her funeral.

In these documents I also found birth-documents and in them was written that Father, Gilmore Libra, was subscribed as father, but _**the biological father was said to be someone called**_ _**Crimson**_ , which means that Mom had to be pregnant with us both, before she met our Father.

What happened with our Biological father was no further elaborated and I also did not find anything out.

But considering everything…, _**maybe he was a hybrid in disguise**_ , that would explain why our bodies did not rejected the organs of a hybrid, because we always had been hybrids, just without our forces having awakened.

That is my theory…, but please don´t tell Yin, she has it hard enough already." I explained and they nodded.

"still, how come you know so much about Hybrids?" I asked unsure as I looked at them.

"Didn´t Father or Mother told you…, we are Hybrids as well." Alpharia stated as she stepped next to her brother.

It was a bomb that had been dropped and it had such an impact on me that my mind literally was blown away.

"Wait….., what?" I asked in shock.

"They didn´t told you am I right…, what S.I.T.K.A. truly is?" Betakin asked.

"just that they gather people with special traits and abilities, out of the norm, even for performance athletes, and that they have kids with special forces, but due to your father introducing him as a paladin I thought she meant that with it, or that you are special talented, over-the-top IQ, physical abilities etc.

This…, I would have never guessed." I stated in honest shock.

And they nodded.

"She can talk normally and still be misunderstood…, anyways S.I.T.K.A is an Organization that has been established to conquer the threat which Baion, Nero and Blank posed to the Republic.

As they hadn´t yet appeared for all these years, the Organization hadn´t been made public to no one, not even the General of the Kurvaz knew about them.

Our Birth was a big Part of the Organization´s establishment, for to conquer the forces of Hybrids, you will need hybrids of your own.

Red Savarin, Rose and Carmine, were the only one of the Original 7 Hybrids to remain good and righteous, but as two of them hadn´t been born as Hybrids but had been abducted and forcefully made to Hybrids, long before our mother met Baion, Rose and Carmine refused to have anything to do with Baion anymore and so they hid themselves for years after they were saved from captivity.

That was during the time as our Brother, Red was born and began to grow up.

Mother wanted to create artificial life, hybrids for Baion to not feel so alone in this world.

It was science, the prospect of creating life, and the specific knowledge she would gain through it by Baion, which motivated her, but she was never aware of the consequences of her doing until it was all too late.

She never knew Baion´s true Character and what he truly planned with the Hybrids they created, Nero, Blank and Red.

He wanted to use them as weapons, as tools to call forth Lares and Lemures, the ancient Titano Machinae.

He managed to corrupt Blank and Nero into following his orders, but our Mother managed to come behind his plans and began to use her own wit to counter it, by modifying Red in a way which would allow him to resist Baion´s brainwashing.

In the end, as she was found out, mom had to flee and to hide Red who was yet not truly ready to take on any of the 4 remaining Hybrids, let alone Baion." Betakin explained as we sat down on the Bed.

"But through fleeing and burning the results as well as the facility, they had been working in, she was able to stop his plans for several years.

That's when she met Father, who helped her flee back then as well as to bring Brother Red in safety.

Both Mom and our Brother had to separate for either of both to have the opportunity to survive, as if it was a miracle both survived until today.

While in hiding at the Kurvaz Agency, Mom began to build up S.I.T.K.A. and gave birth to the three of us, to act as Red´s assistants once we were old enough to fight.

We were born to become weapons against the one who wanted to kill all life, but Mom didn´t counted with one thing…, Mother-feelings.

Even as a die-hard researcher, she was not resistant against the feelings she suddenly developed for us and before she knew it any better, she was so attached to us that we became a true Family, in the end she did not wanted us to fight, even when the time had come for us to do so.

Back then as Nero and Blank attacked, we should have fought alongside Red to take them down, but we were not allowed, nor were we ready anyways.

Our forces might look strong, but we are yet in no way a match to someone like Blank, who was deemed to be stronger than Nero.

But especially because they never knew love nor friendship and loyalty, the two of them failed in the end, they lost against Red and his friends and ultimately Baion lost against our mother.

We didn´t fought and later on we were told to live on as we used to do before, as normal Children, until our forces would be needed the next time, when even Red and the rest of the Organization cannot handle the situation alone anymore." Betakin told me and I was buff to say the least.

"So you and I…, we are roughly the same?" I asked and they nodded.

"But what happened to those other 2, you said that Red and you were to stand against the other four, but as much as I know only Nero and Blank attacked the Shepherd Republic, am I right?" I asked and Betakin nodded sighing deeply.

"No one knows….., our Parents searched in the old Facility but found no evidences, that they had ever been there, however they were described as still alive in the files which Mom stole from Baion and they were shown on a photography and one of the video-files Baion has made several years before.

Until now, no one has ever seen Vermillion and Rouge…, but we are of the assumption that they surely must be out there somewhere." Alpharia replied.

"Have you never wished you were normal." I asked after a while of awkward silence.

"Everyday." They both stated to my very surprise.

"Wait…, really?" I replied confused and they nodded, their faces contorted in pain and in sorrow.

"Mom…, she cried after Nero and Blank had died, no only because she still saw them as her children in some way, but also because we had lost our purpose, our purpose as Hybrids, we were modified for a cause and suddenly that one vanished, leaving us as beings with extraordinary power but without a true cause.

They told us to live forth a normal life, but we are not normal.

Sometimes, when we haven´t used our forces for a long time they begin to break out, _**they manifest in some way**_ , and not always physically but often _**strange phenomena happen around us**_.

Unless we use our forces from time to time, those phenomena increase and gradually become more violent, until it physically affects us as well.

Mom doesn't like the current mood which society has developed against Hybrids, sure Nero and Blank were the prime example of what a Hybrid, which runs havoc, can do for terrible things, but we aren´t like them.

And still we have to hide ourselves as you might can imagine…, half of our life is shrouded in secrecy, never to be revealed unless the public image changes drastically.

For now, the Republic has accepted Red Savarin, Elh Melizee and our Father as special and extraordinary, but that´s because they have already defended the republic twice.

They are seen as heroes…., but not we…., we are no heroes, right now all we are is a danger to other, normal peoples, until we can say with every right, that we have mastered our forces.

But even if we are at that point, is it hard to say that we are heroes, we are more Defenders of the Republic, we defend the citizens by every means necessary, heroes always do the right thing, they rarely kill someone, only if they have to.

But we not, we do what we think is right, we do what saves the Republic and its people, as far as it is possible to us." Betakin explained and I nodded, little I had an assumption that it would end up like this.

The Heroes I knew were always righteous, good, never killed someone directly and if they do, they agonized over it for days, months, sometimes even years.

But in Betakin´s eyes I could see that he did not believed in that.

"Can you…, show me something, I mean I barely was able to truly understand what happened yesterday and I was also not truly conscious, I might have moved and talked but it all felt like within a dream, a daze, I did not consciously recognize that my sister and I had changed.

You say you were born like this so you surely must know on how to control your forces, at least to a big part, am I right?" I asked.

"Our forces are not for show…, but I guess it is better to show you for what you can use your forces, expect of simply wrecking chaos." Betakin explained.

"Let´s take this here for example.

If I now use a shield spell, like this…., Defendio!" He stated in a language I did not know, the porcelain vase he had picked up was faintly surrounded by a bluish aura and his forehead glowed up as well, a strange symbol appeared onto it.

"Now watch carefully." He stated as he concentrated and then let the Vase fall.

"Watch out!" I shouted but my worry was unnecessary, as the vase simply bounced back up a bit, then fell back down, 3 times until it stayed on the ground, fully intact.

"How….?" I asked confused and in awe.

"A shield spell is able to surround something, be it organic or inorganic, as long as you concentrate and hold it up, nothing can affect the surrounded object or creature." Betakin explained and my eyes were huge for sure.

"The Defense Spell is the first you learn as a Paladin, as our father is one and we to a half as well, we can use it in that way.

As a Hybrid we cannot use our forces on command with an incantation, it is more about what we feel in certain situations.

Back then as you wanted to save your sister you must have wished to shield her as fast as possible, to make sure no one can hurt her, therefore your body accelerated, your physical defense increased itself same as your physical power.

In that alley your Sister must have wanted to keep you both safe, she knew the bullet would hit one of you, so she pushed you aside, out of the line of fire with her own shield, while she simultaneously pushed the bullet and the attacker away, creating _**a forcefield**_ around herself.

She floated because she pushed everything away from herself, even the ground.

It was kind of the same principle as the Shield spell I have shown you earlier, but instead of simply defending yourself against outer influence, you repel the same, you expand the shield above your skin and turn it into a sphere-shaped field of energy.

It is effective but takes a lot of Nono and slays down on your condition in a rapid way." Betakin continued as he showed me how he floated, with help of the bluish Aura from before, pushing him off the ground, surrounding the space between him before expanding it until he was surrounded by a perfect bubble of bluish energy.

"Why isn´t this symbol on your forehead appearing?" I asked as I understood the difference between shield-spell and forcefield.

"The symbol is indicating where you focus your Nono as a Paladin.

Felineko and Felidions use the energy, that has been accumulated from the inside of your body, calling it Nono.

The image of the magic casted is shaped within the mind, that's why the Nono gets concentrated in the brain and appears as a symbol there, before being released through your hands, wandering like brain-signals through your body.

This puts however extreme strain on your body, as you must uphold the image and the flow of Nono through your body.

Lupycans and Caninu use the energy that flies invisibly all around us and shape the image of the magic casted with their hands, taking it in through them, before releasing it back through them in the magic we wish to cast.

Just like we breath in and out through our lungs, this is called Rano.

It is easier to use than Nono, as it does not put as much strain on the body as when Nono is being accumulated, but Rano is harder to control, as it is not our own force we use, we literally borrow it from our surroundings.

A Hybrid on the other hand can use Rano through his entire body, breathing it in through every pore, it then gets accumulated within us and then released through the body part that we need it for.

That's why Hybrid forces are solely for attacking and defending, while paladin forces can be used in various ways.

That's also why _**Hybrid-forces or Ki**_ , how they are called, can also only be used by Hybrids.

The Manipulation of Rano and Nono can be learned by anyone, with enough patience and a good tutor." Betakin explained

"You surely will have to train with us in the coming days, it is not wise to leave you out there without any true knowledge on how to control your forces, you will become a danger for others but also for yourself.

To understand the forces you have gained, you need to deal with them, in a secure area.

We often trained deep in the forest, or underneath the Ranch, in our special training-room." Alpharia continued.

"I see…, then we will be in your care, you have my gratitude and you surely will have my sister´s as well." I stated and they nodded.

"Well then, I guess we are done here, you guys need to lay low for a while, so you will have to get along with what we can offer you, we might still have some older clothes which we can borrow you, as I doubt you have anything else than the school uniform, you wear, haven´t you?" I asked and I was reminded that I indeed had nothing else than the few things I wore.

I had nothing but 50 silver rings in my purse, barely enough for a few clothes for us, and a sandwich for each, but then we were out of money.

If Mrs. Million would not have found us and brought us here, how long would we have been able to stay in hiding, before we had to come out to get ourselves at least something to eat.

We owed her and Mr. Damiens so much.

"Betakin, Alpharia, Yang, food is ready!" We heard it coming from downstairs.

"Well then let´s get us something to eat, I´m hungry." Alpharia stated as she walked downstairs, almost supported by the smell of freshly cooked food.

"Yeah let´s go, c´mon Yang." Betakin replied, as I was pulled along.

Maybe it was not so bad to depend on these people…, at least for a while.

.

.

.

Several days later, we came to the fact, that our absence seemed to be a welcomed fact to several people, not only those who made us responsible for their own misery, but also those we never would have thought to betray us.

"So you say that you never actually were friends?" A news reporter asked Victoire Price, as they interviewed our friends…, or at least what we once had called friends.

"Nah, they were fine but I wouldn´t exactly say that we were friends, we hung out the one or the other times, but honestly they weren´t our league, they just always seemed so haughty, as if they were better than the rest of us." I heard it out of the mouth of my sister´s best friend, while the same had stopped eating, the fork with the egg half-lifted her mouth agape.

"Had they always have these forces, what do you think?" The reporter asked.

"I don´t know, if they did they surely were able to hide it very well…, I would have never thought that such a monster called herself my friend…, and her brother, that obnoxious brat, who would have thought that behind his carefree smile lied the face of a murderer, when I think back at all the moments we had spent with them, how often they might have been able to kill us, all the fights we had, maybe they had already killed us so often in their minds and wanted to see how it is to truly kill someone for once.

This makes me shudder…, what if we are their next target." Victoire theatrically stated with badly played fear.

I always knew that Woman were hard to figure out and that there was always a lot more going on under the surface, but I really would have loved to not here her trash-talking us.

But if I thought that was all we had to hear I was very wrong.

"Several students are shocked about the reveal of Yin and Yang Libra´s outing as _**E.C.E.P.U.O., evil creatures with extraordinary Powers of unknown origin**_ and some are even ashamed of ever having befriended them.

But what is their own father thinking about all of it.

Let´s ask him…, Judge Libra, about the case of your Children, do yo have anything to say?" The reporter asked, as our father was passing by.

"I tell you what I have said to others as well, those aren´t my children, my own Children would have never ended up like criminals.

They had always been a little strange to me, but for the sake of my wife I learned to tolerate them, even going to far as to feel something like love for them, I raised them as best as I could, with the entire knowledge I possessed.

I don´t know why they ended up like this, maybe it was due to a circumstance which forced them to reveal themselves as different, I honestly don´t like the idea that the children, born by the woman I loved have become the very monsters which have taken her away from me.

My wife…, _**Regina Libra….**_ , I don´t know who the father is, but she always loved her children dearly, I hope strongly, that the two men that have been killed by them, remain the only two whose life they will take.

Do not pack any more corpses upon your back, you have already done enough evil for a lifetime.

One of them is understandable, he wanted to rape Yin and kill Yang, the ones who commit crime on a daily base have it eventually coming at them, one day they will all meet their fate, whether it is death or the jail.

However the man in the alley was an avoidable victim, he was a father ripped apart by grief and misery, he wanted to avenge the death of his child, which might have been caused because the organ he could have got, was used on one of my children.

Who knows, maybe it was all wrong and these organs could have never been used on that child, due to blood type or whatever circumstance.

Maybe his wrath against me and my children was in that case completely unfounded and he just wanted to let loose, vent off his sorrow and grief onto someone.

If Yin or Yang had only knocked him out, he might have been able to get some help, from a psychologist, but with his death this chance was taken away from him.

It were unnecessary deaths resulted from unnecessary actions under extraordinary circumstances, but one thing is quite clear, in both cases, the Children I had raised were involved and due to that I am most ashamed that I did not raised them any better." Father stated with a grim expression.

"Given the case they would be caught, would you judge over them, what kind of judgement can we await?" The Reporter asked giving father not a chance of rest.

"If they were to be caught, I would judge them as I would do so with every criminal, so they better see not to ever cross my path again.

For the next time we see each other, it will be at the courtyard.

And believe me, for monsters, there exists no fair judgement, not yet." Father stated and in his eyes, I could see a warning, it was superficial and one might be able to overhear it, but I was sure, in his speech there had been several warning and truths being included.

The thing with not being his children was a hint to the biological truth, we weren´t his children, and whoever this Crimson was, he was our true father, the one from whom we had this resistance against the cells of a Hybrid.

As father stated that we had always seemed strange to him, he must have mean what Betakin told me several days ago, that a Hybrid heals up faster than a normal Felineko or Caninu.

That must have been the reason we survived the surgery and were able to heal up, even thought we should have had to be long dead by then.

He told us not to become the monsters who have taken away our Mother, that the two men we accidently killed should remain the only ones we would kill.

He told us that he understood our reasons and the circumstances leading to the incidents, but that he would not tolerate anymore deaths which could be avoided.

That if we were to be caught, he would have to judge us like criminals.

" _ **There is no such thing as a fair court for Hybrids, at least not yet**_." I thought as I remembered father´s words, about monsters.

Father never believed that this term was to be about a creature that mercilessly kills anything in its way.

He always said, that the word monster, is but a term to describe something normal people cannot understand, something impossible to them.

Father meant to say that if we were to be caught, we might be killed, by those who catch us, because a monster has no rights.

Even if I understood all of that, was it hard for me to hear it like this, but even harder was it for Yin, who teared up by these words, her back patted by Cetala and Alpharia, while Betakin laid a hand on my shoulder for comfort.

"That is what we all fear, to be exposed and called a monster, it is a shame you had to already hear it." He stated unsure.

"Our old life…, we cannot ever return to it, aren´t we?" I asked Beluga, as he told us to call him so.

"I hardly think so…., I´m sorry." He replied and I nodded, I imagined something like that.

"All we can do…, is to make the best out of the life we have now." I stated and they all nodded.

 _ **Flashback End:**_

A week after our arrival at the Million Ranch, we were brought to our Quarters in the secret vaults of the White Whale.

Ever since, this was our new Home now, our new world, and unless the society of the Republic changes its view towards Hybrids, we will have to remain in here.

We thought and we hoped that for a long time, this was all we had to concern ourselves with.

Oh, how wrong had been this thought.

I should have known that nothing lasts forever.

One and a Half year later, hell broke loose upon the Republic and the Siren began to ring, throughout the entire Vault.

A call to arms was made and so we were supposed to follow…

 _ **To be continued…**_

 _ **A/N: Here is the third Chapter in the Origin Story of Yin and Yang Libra, the Hybrid twins who never knew what they were, until the day their forces broke out in the worst of circumstances.**_

 _ **We surely will get to see them again, even after this story ends, so please look out for them, as always, read and recommend, and leave a review if you like to.**_

 _ **See you soon, yours truly, the Storyteller and his Books.**_


	10. The Rise of Yin and Yang IV, Destiny

_**The Rise of Yin and Yang**_

 _ **IV Destiny**_

 _ **At Bordaussie, Yang´s Pov:**_

Living together with the Million Family made us understand one thing, if nothing else.

You can be happy and live a normal life even as a Hybrid, all you have to do is to use your forces sometimes, away from public eyes, in secret, to get rid of the excess-force within us, which otherwise would break out uncontrolled.

However, it was important to always keep a certain percentage of force actively within us, to avoid Nono-fatigue, like it is called by Mr. Beluga, as Hybrid forces or _**H-Forces**_ as we call them, are roughly of the same type as Nono-forces.

After nearly two weeks of living in Bordaussie in hiding, the media-storm had subsided, even after the Police came and asked about our whereabouts of if the Million family had seen us, even going as far as to search in the entire house.

Luckily to that time we weren´t present, at least not in the visible space of the Ranch...

In the end grass grew over the whole affair, so much that Lady Merveille deemed it the right time for the Transfer towards the White Whale, which stood shortly before it´s completion and would undergo its first virgin travel in one and a half year.

That we were to see the inside, before the public, was quite necessary, so that we knew the Airship as best as we can, in order to react to certain situations, but also to hide effectively, while simultaneously keeping our days as stress-free as possible, once the media was to come and roam the entire Place.

Also, it was in order for the People we would work and live with, to get to know us a little better, by now they only knew our files and a bit about our past, of course they did not get to know everything about us, but some of them surely must have heard about us from the newspaper.

I admit, back then I was a little afraid of meeting up with new people, I would have loved to live with the Million family for the rest of our lives, at least I had not to feel like a Guinea-pig or a prisoner.

It was a happy life which would await us with them, but especially because it was, was it better not to take that thought for granted.

Merveille Million had a family already, she maybe was willing to help us out for a while, but I doubt that she would have the nerve to adopt us and care for us like she did for Betakin and his sisters, if anything it was their family, we were just intruders into their life seeking for help…, at least so I felt.

The only solution which would not border in us hiding for the rest of our lives, was to join S.I.T.K.A. under a whole new identity.

To be honest, I was unsure if it was a good idea to let us being around normal people at all, well normal in comparison to a Hybrid at least.

Lady Merveille however explained, that the people of S.I.T.K.A. knew Betakin and his Sisters since they were little and so had enough time to investigate and to get to know almost all about Hybrid Forces.

They surely would take us as we are and help us deliberately.

It was a nice vision…, but honestly, I had my doubts about it.

 _ **Half a Year Later, on the White Whale:**_

However, half a year later, things looked quite different to me.

The Researchers at the facility weren´t long as reluctant as I had imagined them to be.

After all I could imagine something better than the prospect of having to work with someone as strange as we are, even knowing that we had already each killed somebody, even if unintentionally and only in self-defense.

If anything, some of them were totally excited to work with us, to learn more about our forces, to research about them and find out about the extent of them.

One of these Researchers was _**Prof. Aurelia Feravente**_ , who was the main head of _**the E.R.F.N.T.**_ of S.I.T.K.A, the _**Experimental Research Facility for New-Technologies,**_ and the Second in command after General Million.

Additionally, she also was our outfitter, the one to design _**our combat suits**_ , _**the E.H.C.A., Enhanced Hybrid Combat Armor,**_ should they ever be needed.

Flexible, sturdy and able to withstand extreme conditions without as much as a scratch.

The combat suits were her entire pride, of course next to the weapons co-created by her and her Husband, _**Prof. Reginald Feravente**_ , who was the Outfitter of Betakin and his sisters, back at Bordaussie, living the longest time of his life in the secret facility underneath the Ranch.

To be honest I almost lost my mind as we went there the first time, but it was a welcome surprise, especially while above us the police searched the entire ranch for any clues about us.

It was totally unexpected, suddenly the Entrance of the main house of the Ranch became an Elevator, which brought us down to a huge hall, separated in several parts by walls.

In one part you could see a Hangar with several Vehicles, designed for quick maneuvers and to survive every environment, they were bulletproof and plasma resistant and could even survive the bombardment with anti-tank-missiles.

Betakin was not joking as he called S.I.T.K.A. the Final Solution, the ones to call when all else fails, the final instance.

Seeing all that made my Childhood dreams come true, all the times I sat infront of the television, cheering on my favorite superheroes, all the Manga and Comics I bought, every Opening and ending and every catchphrase I learned by heart, it all finally got rewarded.

I almost cried upon the beauty of it all.

After we were brought towards the White Whale, a similar view was shone to us and we met Prof. Aurelia for the first time, the same instantly introduced us to _**her daughter, Orphelia Feravente (13)**_ , a little genius and mighty friendly if I may say so…

Maybe a little of an Airhead at times, but she definitely had her heart on the right spot.

She helped us getting a remodeling of our current self, in my case not much had to be changed, my hair was cut, from shoulder length to quite short, styled in a wild manner, honestly, I liked the new look.

Also I had to somehow change my eye-color, which I did with contact lenses, from Blue to Auburn.

Orphelia commented how beautiful they had suddenly gotten, not that they hadn´t been before, so she said…., it made me blush deep red as she came close to my face, looking into them, which in return gave me a good look on her face.

She had heterochromia, 2 different eye colors, one grass-green and the other ocean-blue, which was beautiful as well.

She herself didn´t like it though, as some of her classmates mobbed her, with things like being the result of Inbreeding, if anything, they were just jealous of her genius and good notes, I saw that often in our old school.

If you are above average, people hate you for being better than them, if you fall below average, they tease and mob you for being inferior to them, it was good to stay in the middle, just like an untouched Balance.

Though our balance had already begun to tilt to one side, we had to keep a good watch not to tilt it too much.

People tended to view us as simple and that was something good, at least in our eyes…, but Orphelia had it rougher than us.

Orphelia was one who could not ignore the teasing and mobbing, and instead decided to act upon it and change herself to please her environment, that's why she hid her green eye with a contact-lens as well, which was quite a shame if I may say so.

Especially because it didn´t helped at all, the others still made fun of her, what a nasty bunch.

Yin teased me in telling her how I felt upon seeing her eyes, if that was my honest opinion, but I was reluctant…, I liked Orphelia, she was nice and friendly for sure…, but I was still not ready to get into a deeper relationship than being mere acquaintances.

After all the last ones I had called friends, began to speak nasty behind our backs and even went as far as to call us monsters on TV as they were interviewed, once we were hunted and off the grid.

It made me understand that no matter how a person act, you never know what they truly think about you, unless you manage to read their minds, just like Cetala was able to…, in a way I envied her ability.

While I managed to get along with _**my new look and my new identity called Yami Scale**_ , Yin had the most to do during her remodeling, she not only got colored contact lenses as well, she also had to say goodbye to her long hair, which was cut of short much to her dismay, as she loved her long hair and kept it clean and flowing and glossy, often staying an hour in the bathroom to treat it.

She even started crying as the hairdresser appeared with the scissor, I literally had to restrain her for the same to be able to work, all the while I had to hear Yin´s cursing.

In the end, after her hair was cut, she instantly hid it underneath a hood, which she bought in one of the stores, calling herself too ugly to be shown to the world.

It lasted a week until she finally managed to calm down, she even refused to go to school this way, she totally envied Orphelia for still having her long hair, even if it was messily braided.

In a harsh contrast to that scene, _**her new Identity as**_ _**Hikari Scale,**_ was almost instantly accepted by her, maybe because it helped her to forget that Yin Libra was a murderer, at least in her eyes.

Upon visiting _**Claymore Academy,**_ the school here on the White Whale, we got a whole bunch of new Classmates, all of them smart little professors-to-be who could get quite judgmental if I may say so, at the very least they did not hid their nasty characters but put them on full display.

That was perhaps better, than having a class full of people who hid what they truly thought about you, for the longest of times.

Our arrival as newbies who had moved due to interfamilial reasons, was simply accepted and deliberately ignored, in the end no one really cared about it, we were just there, two of many…, honestly I preferred it that way, at least no one asked any dumb questions.

Still I never had been in a classroom in which the fronts had been made so clear, everyone had their little group which they got along with and they all concurred with the rest of the class for tests, assignments and other stupid stuff, things from which I barely understood anything.

I was glad enough to somehow be able to follow what the teacher was teaching us.

The only one I could make out as a light in a room filled with black mist of idiocy, apart from Orphelia and Yin, the one who couldn´t care less about all that rivalry going on, was a Caninu-boy of my age, who looked outside the window with complete disinterest in anything the others said.

Orphelia introduced us to him, as apparently, he was her only friend in this class full of ferocious intellectual beasts.

The only one who never laughed about her or mobbed her, who took her just the way she was.

His name was _**Connor Triever (13)**_ and he too was the son of a researcher here at the White Whale, _**Leonardo Triever**_ , although the same was a rather unknown and overlooked figure in this huge place, almost insignificant, compared to all the great researchers gathered here.

However he worked close together with Professor Aurelia, that's one other reason why their Kids got along so well.

Connor was proud nevertheless about his father and loved him dearly.

He knew just enough not to fail his classes, but as he could not really speak with anyone of his classmates about any highly intellectual themes, he felt alone almost the entire time.

But especially because of that, he was the least to judge somebody just by the look of the same.

That's what made both Orphelia and Connor becoming friends over short or long.

That of course gave room for stupid rumors and speculations within the classroom and us hanging out with them, didn´t do any better to the whole situation.

"How do you manage not to snap by all this?" I once asked Connor as we sat together in the canteen during noon-break.

"By sucking it up and unleashing it in private, I play a lot of videogames to vent of a lot of steam after a hard school day." Connor stated as he lazily stabbed around in his food.

"I see, well to be honest that isn´t as different from how I have lived before…, whenever there was stress at school, I just went straight home and did something which had nothing to do with the same, to vent of steam and to take my mind of everything that happened, once I calmed down, I went back to study.

Well it´s all in the past now, nowadays all I can do is to ignore it as best as I can and just keep on going." I explained and he nodded.

Same as most people, did he never asked us why we transferred schools, not because he didn´t cared, like the other, but I think he did sensed that it was a quite sensible theme to us, so he never attempted to dig for the answers and I was quite thankful for it.

The official reason told to others, was that because of the death of our Mother, our father began to drink and became more and more violent, until he almost killed Yin in a fit of rage, before I slammed one of his alcohol bottles on his head, knocking him unconscious and that we then fled out of our home.

We ran way from Pharaoh and ended up in Bordaussie where we met Lady Million and Mr. Damiens, who adopted us and helped us restarting our life from anew, well part of it wasn´t really a lie, even if it went off differently.

We still often texted with our supposed-to-be adoptive siblings, to see what was going on in Bordaussie, we promised to help each other when it was required, this was the least we could do to pay back their kindness to us.

I admit, not only was it a strange feeling to live apart from our conspecifics, but also to live back in Pharaoh, even if we were in hiding, we were so close yet so far from our old home, from the house which mom and dad had lived in together with us…, I really wonder what Dad was doing right about now, with us gone.

 _ **A year later:**_

A Year after our escape from Pharaoh on that faithful day, we became quite acknowledged in using our Hybrid forces, they were long not as scary and strange as they had been in the beginning.

After learning to toning down their intensity, using them became a lot easier, almost like breathing.

Here in the trainings room we had not to hide ourselves, here we could be who we truly were, or better said, who we had become.

"Focus, Yang, you have to get this in your head, if not it will be fatal if ever a battle does arise." Yin stated, as she charged up her energy.

I had yet to learn how to generate a forcefield around me, like Yin could do it.

One thing the researchers here had found out was that my forces were rather for attacking an enemy, than blocking its attacks or even defending someone.

Yin´s on the other hand had a far easier time to use forcefields and shields for her benefit, even being able to trap enemies in her forcefields, restraining them for about an hour.

All I could do was to destroy and fight head-to-head with others, then again, I was way faster than her, I could accelerate my body and thought-process, in order to react to attacks directed to me and use a counterattack instantly.

Yin called it reckless behavior and suggested that I would take a try on generating shields, at least to defend myself.

We were able to create our own training program, it was rare that others decided for us, but we often did parkours, which they had build for us, or simulation battles with soldiers, in which one team played the villains and the others tried to rescue a bunch of hostages.

Of course, we toned our forces down in a matter fit for simple hand-to-hand combat, most of the time when I was on the Villain team, Yin created a Forcefield around the Hostages effectively pushing anyone else away, this way we could go all out without something happening to them, but that also mean that it was harder for us of the villain team to threat the rescuer team.

Vise versa, when I tried to rescue the hostages, Yin created a forcefield wile standing amongst the Hostages, her fake weapon aiming at the head of one, which made it almost impossible for us to act. Our only way was to render Yin unconscious to free the Hostages, which was easier said than done. I

lost so many times to her in these tests, that it was hard to count.

It was scary how good Yin could play a villain and a hero at the same time, we had always been average, but suddenly she managed to run ahead of me and leave me in the dust.

Maybe that's why she insisted on teaching me in using forcefields for my benefit.

However, that was definitely easier said than done.

"Get up, geez, what have I told you, focus on me, look what I do and try to defend yourself appropriately to it.

Watch my movements, I mean you can do that, no one can beat you in hand-to-hand combat, not even I, so why can´t you react when I use my forces against you?" Yin asked me once during our training session.

"It´s not as easy as you make it look like Sis, if I try to focus my mind on generating a forcefield I am all open for attacks, I cannot attack and simultaneously try to generate a forcefield.

You can´t do that either!" I complained and she sighed in exhaustion, sitting down on the maltreated ground.

"I know that it is hard, I had a hard time learning this stuff myself, but as I said, if you run headfirst in every danger without so much as a protective spell around you, then you are doomed, the E.H.C.A. is not unfailable, even if it is strong and sturdy.

It won´t hold forever, you need to learn to repel damage, bullets and what do I know, if not your armor will be destroyed in no time, even as fast as you are, you cannot evade a multidirectional bombardment, as you have to focus on one direction per time to evade effectively, we have seen that.

If more than 4 people attack you, all you can do is to try and to break out of the ring and then beat them one by one…, but that won´t do if the attack consists of a bullet-storm." Yin explained and I sat myself down as well.

"As I said, you make it look so easy but it isn´t not at all, I know it in theory but my body just doesn´t listen to me when I try to generate energy…, maybe it is because I have Blank´s force, they aren´t Nero´s forces, the way I have seen it with Betakin and the others, has everybody of them different abilities as a Hybrid, only thanks to their Paladin training in addition they can more or less use the same forces.

Honestly, I doubt that we both could use each other´s forces, I mean you tell me to learn your forces…, how about we try it vise versa, how about you try to accelerate yourself for once, to evade close range attacks, like I do, I bet that, that ain´t gonna be easy for you either." I replied and she nodded sighing.

"Maybe you are right and our forces aren´t compatible with each other, at least by trying to learn them, however you also have to understand, that I cannot always be at your side, to shield you from attacks.

Especially when the battle will be drawn out on a larger area, like in a town…, if we want to effectively save people, we cannot always stay together at one spot, eventually we will have to spread our forces, to rescue people and defeat enemies.

In a larger team this makes even more sense." Yin replied and I nodded, she did have a point but what shall I do?

"Maybe we should try and learn Paladin abilities too, they surely will come in handy?" I asked her and she nodded.

"They would, however don´t I know how long it would take to learn as much as producing a shield with Nono, Alpharia admitted that it cost her nearly 4 years to generate a sturdy shield, and it was still not enough as it could only hold out for 10 minutes.

Nowadays she can hold it up longer but she also trained since she was 5 years old, 7 years long.

I am not sure if the peace we currently have, will hold on that long…, I cannot really tell..., but somehow…, I have a feeling that the danger is long not over.

Three Titano weapons have rampaged in less than 4 years, honestly, I doubt that this is a mere coincidence, I rather would believe that something bigger has been stirred awake and it slowly so slowly rises from its sleep." Yin stated as she stood up and walked over to the window of the training room, which showed the vast sky of the republic.

"I feel that a storm is coming, maybe not tomorrow but in near future..., and I can tell it is going to be a devastating one." Yin stated.

"Pfffff, hahhahaha, now that sound like straight out of a movie, my dear." We heard a voice behind us, as I heard the door sliding open.

"Prof. Aurelia, it´s nice to see you again, how was your trip to Bordaussie?" I asked as the young woman, walked in with a tablet of cups and drinks, while her daughter followed with some snacks, and as if that wasn´t enough someone else entered, someone I would have never thought to ever see in this part of the White Whale.

"So, this is where you guys train, looks nice I would say, it though could use a little renovation." I heard Connors voice saying as the same entered the training-room.

"Professor what the hell, why did you bring him here…, don´t tell me you told him everything?" I asked her in pure shock.

"Me, why should I have to tell him anything, he already knew it before, better said since the beginning, just like Orphelia." Prof. Aurelia replied confused, which in return got me confused.

"Wait what?" I asked in even greater shock.

"Oh didn´t I mention it, my Father works for S.I.T.K.A. as well, that's how Orphelia and I became such good friends in the first place, not just because we are classmates." Connor explained.

"Yes Prof. Triever works together with me, but not only on the normal, public researches, but also on your weapons, gadgets and Mechas…, didn´t I mention that before?" The Professor asked unsure.

" _No, you surely did not_." I thought in annoyance.

"So you…, you knew it the whole time…, that we aren´t normal people but Hybrids instead?" I asked Connor.

"Yeah I did, Orphelia told me so after the first week, after we met, she told me about who you are and why you were here, I admit at first I was a little shocked but I decided to observe you and get myself an own picture of your character…, and well, I couldn´t say anything against you guys.

You were friendly, kind, reliable and compassionate, I really came to like both of you and I should have probably told you about my knowledge by that time, but I kind of figured that it was most likely quite a sensitive matter for the both of you, so in the end, I never mentioned it…, sorry about that." Connor replied and I sighed.

" _Seriously how considerate can you be_ …?" I thought with a smile.

"Anyways, I am glad not to have to lie to you anymore." I stated and Connor nodded.

"Well it was to protect yourself and your sister, so I can forgive you for that, no harm has been done anyways.

And well…, do you think that we all, I mean, Orphelia, You and Yin… and I…, if we could become friends…, I know from Orphelia´s mom what happened with your last friends and I totally understand that you are reluctant to trust anyone anymore…, but believe me, Orphelia and I, we aren´t like that, we want to help you as best as we can.

Who knows, maybe someday Orphelia will be your Outfitter and I will be your _**guy in the Chair**_ …, what do you think?" Connor asked and honestly, for the first time in my life, I was relieved to have gotten to know another person, so kind and friendly like my Sister and Mother.

"Anyways you two, I think it is time for a break, for afterwards I will be needing your assistance on something." Prof. Aurelia explained and I was curious, whenever she asked us to help her it was bound to become interesting.

"What did you get us this time, Professor?" I asked her.

"Oh that is still a secret, but you surely won´t be disappointed, you will get to see it soon enough, anyways I have still some things to prepare beforehand, meet me at the hangar in an hour, the four of you, okay, and you guys, take your Armors with you, you will definitely need them." She stated while smirking mysteriously, looking at the four of us with a mischievous look in her eyes.

If I had known what was to come an hour after our break and our chatting with our friends, I would have skipped eating snacks.

 _ **An Hour later:**_

"What in the world is that?" I asked in purest astonishment before the giant things, which I had here standing right infront of me and my Sister within the Hangar of the White Whale.

"May I Introduce to you, _**Pale Lancer and Dark Archer**_ , some of the Mechas of the newest kind, designed and constructed by Lady Million and Cetala, solely for you.

They have been constructed after blueprints of the Tiamat, the Septentrion and some other plans, which I have no clue of.

One each of them has its own set of special properties and abilities.

As you know, upon close investigation, we have determined that Hybrid Forces have different types to them.

Yin for example is a distance-attacker, who attacks from a safe distance or incapacitate enemies with her shields while simultaneously defending herself, by closing herself in a shield as well.

Yang on the other hand is more of a close-combat-fighter, who searches the head to head confrontation with his enemies, to compensate for his lack of distance-attacks.

Betakin is an attacker, someone who puts most of his forces into attacking the enemy, keeping him away from those who need protection.

Alpharia, is the Defender, her forces are strong but as much as we know inferior to her brother´s and on the same level as Cetala´s, however she is more capable of defending and generating durable shields, be it for herself or others.

Cetala on the other hand, is more of a strategist, who watches from high above to coordinate the others, that however doesn´t mean that she is weak, no she can use both wide-range and close-combat-attacks.

Each of these forces and types are valuable assets to _**the H-Team**_ , whenever the time comes that you will have to fight as one." Professor Aurelia explained as she began to work on some machines.

"Just let me do some adjustments…, there we go, now it should be perfect, how about you try them out." She asked and without further ado we made our way into the cockpits of both the Mechas.

Yin decided to mount Dark Archer, an armored metallic knight, whose greatest asset was his high physical defense against attacks and impacts, perfect for attacking others from a distance while standing on the Battlefield.

Meanwhile I chose Pale Lancer, a rather flexible Mecha with durable armor, who was a speed-type armor with an inbuilt jet system and an A.I. for evading multidirectional attacks but also for more accuracy, so that even with all that speed used, the attacks I dealt still hit.

"Amazing, this somehow looks so good on you guys." Connor explained as we suited up into our E.H.C.A.

"Indeed, as if you were born to wear them, you look like true Super Rescue Rangers." Orphelia continued, both their eyes shining in anticipation.

Did I forgot to mention that the three of us had much in common, despite Orphelia being a little Genius.

" _If you say so_." We mumbled blushing, before we mounted the cockpits of our Mechas for a test-run.

To be honest, it was the first time in my life, where I ever got so close to such a machine at all, even though there were many Mechas in Pharaoh.

Still if I had known that piloting a Mecha was so hard, I rather would have seen to get a little training in a Simulator, I heard they have one here somewhere.

The tests we made on that day were valuable data which helped the Professor, Lady Million and their teams, to enhance our equipment, for when the time was right.

Who would have thought that this time came faster than we all had expected?

 _ **Another Year Later:**_

The call had finally come, after 2 years of having these forces already, they finally were to be put to good use.

The moment we entered the conference room of S.I.T.K.A, we were quite surprised to see Orphelia and Connor in the official Uniforms, in midst of a bunch of Professors, soldiers and other Special agents.

"Ah they are here, wonderful, Luckily the Claymore Academy had no school today or else we would have had to wait even longer." Professor Aurelia explained and we nodded.

As the Claymore Academy was located on the other end of the White Whale, it would indeed have last quite sometime to get through the entire ship once, after all the Airship was a little under a mile long and the lower levels of the S.I.T.K.A Facilities were like a maze of corridors.

"You guys know why you are here, don´t you?" The professor asked.

"Indeed, something happened, something which no one can handle anymore, no one but we perhaps?" Yin asked and they all nodded.

"And what happened is far bigger than we expected, we always though that there might just be a new attempt of Baion´s other creations, to do what their master tried, but even we did not count with a literal invasion of foreign enemies with high technology quite superior to ours, however that is the case.

It seems that we are at War, Ladies and Gentlemen…, the noon before today, we lost contact to the Golden Roar and the Royal Envy." The Professor stated and our chin crashed down, this news really had to be digested by us.

" _Lady Million_." I thought in terror upon hearing that.

"That in itself would have not been so bad, we could have deemed it as nothing but a simple communication-failure, so we thought…, at least if not in the night of the same day, foreign Airships attacked several Islands of our Republic.

Our regular forces were out there fighting against them and only a lucky strike of the weather and perhaps some other, yet unknown factor, helped all of our men to survive, despite being at a huge disadvantage technological-wise.

Because of that and Red Savarin´s help, the Islands could be saved and have been put on alert for an undetermined timespan.

As of now we still don´t quite know what their objective is, but what we know, is that they are ruthless in their doing.

Meanwhile, ever since the signals were lost, we kept trying to contact both Airships , without any success but until a few hours ago.

But then we got us a message from General Beluga, he told us about a new silent attack on Airedale and Basset and that most likely other islands were targeted as well.

Also did he told us the reason why we cannot locate nor contact either the Golden Roar or the Royal Envy, its because both are located in the Devil´s Throat, we were made aware of the possibility of it by the Jade Dragon Palace, but neither them nor us had any confirmation about this, before General Beluga reported it to us.

For the time being, Red Savarin and some new Helpers, under them also the Hybrids Rose and Carmine, who had vanished from our radar and went in hiding 14 years ago, have decided to engage the enemy head on, by attacking their main Base here in the Republic.

They have decided to pierce through the Storms of the Devil´s throat with a bright Scarlet-red Airship, packed with fully unknown Technology and abilities, at least it is definitely none of our Airships, so much we know.

Apparently it is a n Airship from a place called Shangri-La, a place refered in various histories and legends and said to have truly existed in olden times, it is even said that our Republic consists out of pieces of this mysterious place, anyways it is yet not truly confirmed by us, rather they truly come from there or if they are but another secret defense agency similiar to us.

In any event, it seems to me, that we weren´t the only ones preparing for such a drastic situation and yet they seem to be far better prepared for this than we are, makes me wonder if they knew about this potential attack all along or not, and if they just waited for the enemy to spread its forces out, in order to attack their HQ, it is one way to defeat an enemy, howeve ri would not really call it a good strategy, especial if you leave your allies vunerable to the enemies attack.

After all they are supposed to supporting us, as far as we can believe from General Beluga´s Report, but as i mentioned, their way of holding back informations is something i cannot tolerate, if we knew were about to be attacked we surely could have defended our people and islands far better than we actually did, i am sure that somewhere around her, lives are being lost and Battles are fought as we speak.

We also have gotten reports from several field-agents, which deem it as highly possible, that these attack weren´t just occurring in our Republic, but also in the Kingdom of Prairie and the Nippon Archipelago further east, and that some of these attacks and assaults over there are yet ongoing, also shall some escapees from both Regions have meanwhile arrived in the Republic, most likely seeking for safety, if we were to find them, we should help them as best as we can so much is clear.

However, we should not forget, that here in our Republic some Islands are still being attacked as well.

Approximately half an hour ago we got a report from our Branch at Bordaussie, about an Invasion on the island from many foreign Airships, significantly more than on other islands, and that the Million children have meanwhile engaged in battle, to save the inhabitants of the Islands.

As far as their report has told us, have they resorted to first get anyone in the save shelter, before engaging the enemy in combat, but as i said earlier, have we no information if the enemy just wants to conquer the republic or if they are planning something entirely different.

if you ask my personal opinion, I must agree with you, Agent Hikari, your thought from a little while ago, tht the waking of three Titano Machinae in less than 10 years has been no coincidence, something is about to wake up and considering the brutal power of these Titano Machinae it is highly possible that the Enemy is after them.

Lady Million and I hypothesized that there might be more of such weapons hidden within the Republic, maybe slumbering in ancient ruins, deep caves, underneath the ground we stand upon, or so on, if this is true then whatever they hope to find here, it will be disastrous if they manage to claim it as their own.

 _ **Agent Yami, Agent Hikari**_ , your mission will be the assistance of the friendly forces at Bordaussie, you will be accompanied by _**another two Agents**_ and the Operation will be led by General Beluga, who will soon arrive at your side.

Our Main force will make its way over there as well, but as you know aren´t we as fast as we want to be.

We can only make it there in approximately 5 hours, but with a Special High-speed Aircraft you guys will most likely make it in 2 hours, that gives you and the others 3 hours in which you have to fight against the enemy on your own, before we arrive to engage in battle as well.

We have already send out several other teams to engage other situations, which have occurred on various other islands across the Republic, so you won´t get any more backup for those 3 hours, understood, you have to cooperate with the local team, try to safe as many civilians as you can and keep the enemy from fulfilling their objective, whatever this might be.

Adittionally, the Jade dragon Palace has notified us that as soon as their preparations are done, they will send out more teams so that we can focus on another mission, to go and assist the crews of the olden Roar and the Royal envy in their possible combat against the enemy´s forces.

As this situation requires our best and most potential agents, we cannot renounce of counting on your assistance, even if you are technically seen not adult yet, have you understood this." Prof. Aurelia explained and we Saluted.

"Ma´am, Yes, Ma´am!" We stated aloud with confidence but also with worry in our hearts, of course it was sure that this was nothing easily decided, we knew that someday this situation would come, we all knew that.

"Connor and Orphelia will come with you and coordinate your actions together with the team of my Husband, Professor Reginald.

They are not to engage in battle but to support you from a safe distance, so make sure you follow their instructions, as far as possible for you, do not hesitate to make own suggestions as well…, as the Support is not on the Battlefield, they cannot always grasp the situation as it truly is.

Any further details will be told to you on the flight, you will meet the other Members of your Team in the Hangar, they have already been briefed as far as you now have been, so they are as smart about the situation as you, anyways, make sure you get along with them, after all, each of you needs to protect your partners back." The Professor continued and once again we saluted, alongside Connor and Orphelia who stepped at our side.

"This is everything, get to the Hangars asap, dismissed!" We were told and with these words our very first mission began.

After 2 years of intensive training, of our physical condition and in strategies and survival tests, we finally were allowed to put these new abilities we had to the test.

" _I just hope everything goes well, I don´t want to die already, i´m still too young for that…, I haven´t even had a girlfriend yet_." I thought as we made our way towards the Hangars of the White Whale.

2 Hours later, I wished I would have had one before….

 _ **To be Continued…**_

 _ **A/N: And another Chapter of Yin and Yang´s story is over, I hope you have liked it…, I wouldn´t really know as I haven´t yet go any review to it, I have unfortunately no idea if you all appreciate these stories at all or if you couldn´t care less for them, either way I am going to keep on writing them, even if it is but for my self-satisfaction.**_

 _ **Anyways as always, read, review and if possible, recommend these side-stories and the main story.**_

 _ **Yours truly, the Storyteller and his books.**_


	11. The Rise of Yin and Yang V, Assembly

_**The Rise of Yin and Yang**_

 _ **V Assembly**_

 _ **Bordaussie, Present Day, 2 and a half hours Later, Yin´s Pov:**_

"All hands-on deck we are approaching the Aerial space of Bordaussie, everyone, prepare for combat immediately!" the Loudspeakers rang out as our Pilot announced our momentary situation to everyone on board.

Roughly 2 and a half hours after our depart from Pharaoh, away from the White Whale, things looked completely different as back in the safe shelter of the giant Airship.

The countless reports of different minor or major battles, here and there across the entire Republic, really gave the vibe of being under an invasion from fiend forces.

Well the reality we saw after getting the footage send over from Bordaussie´sBase of Operation, really strengthened that believe in our mind.

A battlefield like out of a History Book.

If we were to stay hidden, then this Republic would most definitely be doomed, initiating the call of the Secret Siren was a rightful decision to take.

" _So this is how it begins, our very first mission…., are you excited?"_ I asked my brother with a low voice as we stood together.

But who am I Kidding, I bet he was just as nervous as I am.

"Nervous is the correct answer, a little bit terrified and yes also quite worried.

If we were to fail or even die, innocent people will die as well, also don´t I want it to end so fast, we are merely 14 years old, we are not even adult yet…, I hadn´t even had a girlfriend yet…, I really should have tell Orphelia how I feel…, but now…, so shortly before a mission, it would just be cruel if she accepts it and then I would die.

Then again if I were to never tell her, I am sure I would forever regret it, even so in the moment of my death." Yang stated and I grabbed his head making him look at me forcefully.

"Stop being a pessimist, stop speaking about death and all that, stop pulling me down with you Yang…, the more you paint the devil on the wall the easier he finds us, understood!?" I stated aloud, trying desperately to make him forget these kinds of things.

Of course, I knew that it was impossible to erase the doubt, the fear and the worry he held in his heart, especially because I held the same within me.

We siblings had but ourselves and those few friends we had found lately, if we were to fall, all of it would be lost.

But even so, many innocent people, old and young, men and women, children and babies, all of them would die.

The stories the reports told us, explained us clearly how much a life means to the enemy, as well as nothing…., they hardly value their own life, as if they were brainwashed to solely obey orders and die if they cannot fulfill them.

I was not sure to call it cowardly or not, either way they were in no way willing to take responsibility for their crimes.

Reading the reports from some witnesses, it was clear to me that they did not at all regretted to kill other people.

Betakin and his sisters taught us the true value of a life, back then as we wanted to forget that we had killed others, although out of self-defense.

No matter the cause, erasing a life was something one should not easily forget, sometimes it is the rightful punishment…, to suffer, grieve and agonize about it for some time.

"How many do you think we will have to kill?" Yang asked unsure.

"I hope not too many, but the way things are, it will most likely not be avoidable that there will be some casualties." I replied and he silently nodded, knowing that I was right.

"Hey guys, everything alright, feeling sick, anything hurting?" We heard a voice behind us.

"Dalia, Frey, its so good to see you." I stated with a smile.

 _ **Dalia Lancaster and Frey McLaren**_ , _**both Felineko and two of S.I.T.K.A.´s best operating Agents**_ who accompanied us, walked up to us, as we gazed outside of the window here in the hallway, trying to ease our minds.

"Are you guys nervous…, well I cannot blame you, I admit, I almost died during my first mission." Frey stated before being elbowed by his Partner.

Both had already been Agents by the time S.I.T.K.A. had been founded and they were chosen for their exceptional skills as such, directly from Pharaohs I.D.A.

Even though they were polar opposites in private, did they harmonized in every battle, also were they always nice and concerned about the wellbeing of others, as long as they were allies or innocent people, which was making them the perfect Partners to work with.

They were _**the pilots of the 2-piloted Four Arms-Mecha, the Yoshura**_ , one of the newest to-be-mass-produced Kurvaz Mechas.

It was a rule that a team always consisted out of at least 2 operating Agents and an Advisor who gives directions, intel about certain goals or situations and who leads the orders from the superiors towards their teams…., so to say, the ones we had to depend most during a mission…, the Guys in the chairs, as Connor calls them, as well as himself.

Dalia and Frey´s Advisor was a _**Caninu called Aloyse Everdare**_ , with whom they worked together since years and trusted completely.

He also was assigned to show Connor the ropes in his new work.

Orphelia and her Mother meanwhile were making some last improvements on our Battle gear, to make sure they worked without failure on the battlefield.

I can tell that it was as hard for them as it is for us.

I do not told Yang this but I accidently overheard Orphelia and Connor talking with each other during one of their breaks.

The Poor girl had broken down crying, the closer we came to our Drop point.

She said that it was sorrow, rage, worry and fear which she felt, knowing that she has to send her friends into battle, in a place in which they might die, that her heart was not ready for it.

Connor tried to comfort her, saying that anything will be alright, that we were strong and had trained much for such a situation, and that in the end we were not alone…, he said all that, but honestly, I could hear the fear in his words as well.

He too grieved about it, but he tried not to openly show it, to not make us worry, I guess.

As I was about to go away, I heard something, which made me want to turn around and grab her hands as well as to drag her to her luck.

 _ **Flashback, half an hour ago:**_

"I love him….!" As I heard these words, I stopped dead in my tracks.

I didn´t meant to eavesdrop in the first place and I was already at walking away again, but what had peaked my interest was the tone in which Orphelia said these words.

"I have always liked him from the beginning, it wasn´t his coolness, or the fact that he was special, no it was the way he tried to be friendly even if he was wary at me.

We were simple acquaintances and I tried to help him and Yin integrate within the society of the White Whale..., of course wasn´t it always easy and I often though that I was just too forward with my choice of words…, too forceful in my doing, trying to accomplish something, bend or break.

I just wanted to be there for them, to help them as they tried to live in our world, after what happened to them.

You know a few years after they arrived here and we became friends, Yang told me how scared he was at first as he understood that he and his sister had such forces, that he even thought about committing suicide, especially after what happened during the awakening of their forces.

But he said, that there were persons who saw him and his sister in a whole different light as he and the rest of the society saw them.

Not as monsters but as persons, two kids with special powers destined for greater things than a simple life.

But he also told me, that he wouldn´t have minded to have remained ordinary and average.

As I asked him if he wished to return to his old life, he told me that he did not wanted to.

That there was nothing left to them there…, and that after all, being special brought him together with us…., you can´t imagine how fast and loud my heart beated at that moment, as he said those words while looking straight in my eyes.

I was shortly before telling him how I felt about him…, but then I got scared…, what if he indeed one day has to risk his life in a dangerous mission, if I were to tell him how I felt…, could he truly fight without worrying too much?

Given the chance he even feels this way for me, wouldn´t it be more of a burden for him to know it, wouldn´t he recklessly trying to survive just to return to me…, if anything he should survive but for his own sake, maybe for his sister´s sake.

But if I do not tell him now…, what if he dies…, then he will never know how I felt about him, knowing there was a person other than his sister who loved him in such a special way." Orphelia´s voice stated while I listened from around the corner with quite a lump in my throat and my heart heavy as a rock.

After what happened to us I thought that Yang and I would remain together forever, that our destiny was intertwined in a way no one could ever truly understand, nor even try to break.

But here was a Girl who genuinely shed tears for us and even more so for my brother, who held feelings for my brother equal to my own.

I admit that Yang and I had always been close and I always admired him a little, even more so lately.

And in that single moment, I understood that I had to let him go if he wished to spent his life with Orphelia, I knew he had a thing for her, he told me so before and it was self-evident the way he always acted around her.

"Orphelia, I am not so sure if I am in any position to say that but I would be careful who you are falling for…, do not misunderstand me, if it was any easy I would wish you guys the very best for the future, you would have my blessings for sure…, but things aren't easy as you know.

While we have to stay here, Yang and Yin have to go out there on the Battlefield, saving people, fighting enemies and generally trying to survive themselves.

Of course, people say that one can fight better when one knows that someone is waiting for them…, but honestly, if I were in their position, I would try not to make too many friends or get a lover, because I would know how much it would hurt them, if I were to fall.

Because I feel this way, I cannot tell you if it would be the best idea to either leave it as it is or to go for it, but one thing I know, if something were to happen to one of them, many people will be hurt mentally.

If Yin was to be hurt Yang would grief, so would we, but I doubt he then would have time for a lover.

If Yang were to be hurt both you and Yin would be extremely hurt.

And if it would happen to both of them…, I would not know what to do with my life anymore, knowing that I was one of those who send them out there." Connor stated and in the reflection of the Window, I saw how he looked up to the ceiling, his eyes closed, his arms tightly infront of his chest, as to keep himself together, to keep his heart from fleeing.

" _I don´t know if I could bear that pain, that knowledge, if I could continue with my life_." Connor mumbled and I was shortly before bursting in tears.

"I want none of them to be hurt, but wishing for that means to sacrifice the rest of the Republic.

Maybe the grown-ups can handle things eventually, but how long would that take and how many people would die due to that.

All I can do is to guide them through this and pray for them to return safe and sound." Connor explained and his reflection showed that he looked straight forward outside of the Window, where the weather designated that a storm was coming, maybe even two.

Before I broke together from pain and inner turmoil I walked away, back to Yang to look how he was, how he felt about all this.

 _ **Flashback end:**_

By the time we reached our drop point, the storm outside had strengthened in its force, our Aircraft had problems with the harsh turbulences out here.

Not to mention that it had to be careful not to be spotted beforehand by the enemy, for that reason each of our Mechas had Flight-Gear strapped on, which would take us towards the Island on the last mile.

We were tiny enough that we might not be spotted so easily, out here in the storm.

The fear and anxiety from before had not even tried to subside itself, if anything it just increased.

"Promise to be careful out there, we cannot get any closer or else we might be shot off, we have no weapons on this aircraft.

Remember the White Whale should be 2 hours behind us, but if the weather keeps getting worse it might last even longer until they safely arrive to help you guys out, so long you will have to fight on your own.

And also, beware, for nighttime is soon coming and that won´t make things any easier.

In the worst-case scenario, they will release the Ghouls, if that happens none of us can help you, for we will just be food for these beasts.

For the moment the Salamander cannot be operated in its usual way, so I won´t be able to help you, for now, until it has been fixed once the White Whale arrives, but I know for sure that Merveille would be very sad if anything happened to you guys." General Beluga explained as we stood near the rear hatch.

"Dalia, Frey, keep an eye out for these Kids, I am counting on you!" He stated while they saluted.

"Of course, Sir." They stated in unison.

"Agent Hikari, Agent Yami, by all means be careful and do the best possible to you, always take care of each other and make sure to have your partners back, there are many who would like to have you back save and sound, you understand?!" He stated, a hand on the shoulder of each of, squeezing it gently, looking.

Under the speech as a General was a simple sentence, meant as a friend and mentor.

Don´t you dare dying, you are far too young for that.

"Sir, Yes, Sir!" We too saluted, having understood the hidden words, which then again might not have been so hidden.

"Guys we have done the most possible adjustments and improvements which we could do in this little time, I hope you will have anything you need, for whatever situation, with you." Professor Aurelia explained, standing infront of her Engineering team, as she gave us our _**M.O.A.K., Mecha Operating Authorization Keys**_ , special personalized keys which had to be used to even power the Mechas in the first place…, if they were tried to be used without those keys, our fingerprints and DNA, the Mecha would not even start working.

"I´m sure we will be alright; your Inventions have always worked and they surely never failed to amaze us." Yang stated and I nodded which made her tear up, before she bearhugged both of us.

"You guys…, I know it is nothing much but please take these, this way we up here always know where you are and how you feel, this way we can help you in times of need, also it will be able to get you Equipment and Ammunition, if you ever should run out of it.

Also, it is made in the shape of a charm and it even has one within it, I´m sure it will keep you safe so please take it with you." Orphelia stated as she came to us and gave each of us a little package with our names on it.

Before anyone could say more, she hugged us and even bluntly kissed Yang on his lips, before turning on her heels and ran away blushing, but also crying.

The poor guy was paralyzed by shock of this sudden action of Orphelia, but he soon woke back up from the trance he was put in by the feelings of that Girl, which he had admired and always secretly loved.

"I´m sure she will be okay, I will look after her later, anyways what to say…, I guess everything I would have wanted to say has already been told to you, so all what is left for me to say is that you shall be careful.

By all means, listen to what I tell you on the intercom…, and that you shall stay alive at all cost, make sure you return to us, there will be a lot of sad people to console if you were gone and I doubt I would have the strength to do that, so don´t make me have to do it, you hear.

Also I don´t want to lose the first friends I made in this place, it would be a hassle to go back to the way we were before, just _Phel_ and I." Connor stated, calling Orphelia by her nickname chosen from her best Friend.

Although he tried to let it sound casually, was his mine one of grief and inner turmoil, and yet he stayed strong until the end, only for Yang to take him in a hug, his head on my Brothers shoulder.

"You can cry if it makes you feel better, I guess a man can make an exception in such a situation." Yang mumbled as he too shed some tears, before quickly wiping them away.

"Look at yourself, you can cry too, you know." Connor replied with a sad smile.

"I know but if I start, I will have a hard time to stop and I need now to focus on the mission ahead." Yang replied with the same kind of smile before he let go.

"Tell Orphelia that I will surely return to you guys, and then we will do this properly, until then she shall wait and pray for our safety, we will surely come back." I heard Yang saying as I too embraced Connor, in a friendly manner.

"Hikari, Yami, we have to go!" Dalia and Frey exclaimed in unison and we nodded, wiping away the tears, before we walked forth towards our Mechas, being lifted up to their hatch.

I entered Dark Archer, before my E.H.C.A. got strapped towards the Mecha´s Neural commando center, while a multidirectional motion pad rose up underneath my feet, this way I could run in every direction, without running into the wall of the Mecha´s inner jacket.

The inside was different as the old Cockpits of the previous models, both Dark Archer and Pale Lancer had no cockpit with a massive number of buttons and levers, instead it used motion capture.

The motion we did was directly converted, to the motion of the Mecha, while we ran on a 3D Hologram of our surrounding, this way we were able to see where we even ran to, from the Island´s Government registered Citizens were depicted as Green silhouettes, tourists and visitors were shown as Orange ones, while the enemy was shown as Red ones.

With the Key and my Blood, taken by a syringe within the same, the Dark Archer came to life.

It was the first time, after the several test-runs and the sparring against Yang and Pale Lancer, which we had, that this Mecha would be used for a true Battle.

" _Don´t you fail me now, I beg of you_." I mumbled as I send a prayer to whoever was listening to them in the past.

"Ready for the Drop?" I heard Dalia´s voice asking me, as I saw her and Frey on one of the monitors.

"I guess so, not like we go much of a choice here, after all I am sitting in here now so there is no way I can back out anymore." I stated my honest opinions, I wasn´t at all sure if I really was prepared for this, most likely not.

"I feel with you Sis." Yang´s voice replied as his image popped up on a different monitor.

"But we have decided to do this, for better or for worse, so we will just do the best we can out of this situation and cling to accomplish our objective while staying alive." He stated and I nodded.

"I guess you are right." I replied, still a little unsure.

"Alright guys we are ready on our end, the drop will be in 2 minutes, to our newbies, I know this is scary and I know that you would love to let someone else do it and believe me I do not feel good at all to send you guys into battle, but as I said before, you are perhaps our only chance to defeat the Lycanians without any more casualties, I have seen others who were just as young as you, fighting battles, helping people evacuate, they were afraid, I would be surprised if they weren't, but they knew what was at stake if they failed the task they were given.

Before I arrived here, I was in company of one of the most courageous little girls I had ever seen in my life, and the same was but 8 years old, she outrun a pack of Lycanians, helped our friends to find us as we and the escapees hid in enemy territory, she even helped to keep one of our strongest fighters sane, as he almost lost himself in rage and hatred, during a battle.

She has proved to be a lot more than people always thought she was, and I truly need to bow before so much heart and courage.

I know you feel the same way, and as I said you are not alone in this, as soon as the White Whale appears, I will be able to engage in battle as well.

Today will be your Maiden Battle, and to think it will be easy is something I do not believe in at all, unexpected things can always happen, but as long as you keep a cool head you should be able to handle any situation that comes your way, I believe in you and I know that others do so too!" General Beluga spoke to us to ease our mind while in the background the Countdown for the drop ran out.

"We will do our best, Sir!" I saluted, my confidence being boosted a little…, if a little Girl of 8 years can be brave, so can I.

"Initiate Drop!" The voice of Professor Aurelia stated aloud.

"Godspeed Agents!" she stated as I saw how the view infront of me vanished and in the next moment I already dropped down to the dark lit sky.

Storm-clouds all around us, lightning flaring, the Island of Bordaussie underneath us.

"Alright guys, turn your Mechas face-forward, I will initiate the flight mode now." I heard Connors voice saying with a sudden seriousness, which was quite unusual to hear from him, he popped up on one of the monitors above my head and in his eyes, I could see a fire being lit, a hope which seemed unbreakable.

Doing as ordered, I felt how I suddenly was pushed forward rapidly.

The Island rapidly came closer.

"Initiate Parachute in 3, 2, 1, Go!" Connor stated and suddenly I was pulled back harshly, before I floated above the Island slowly dropping to the ground, before the Mecha touched the ground.

I dropped the parachute before I looked around to see the others having meanwhile landed as well.

"As we thought, there is no one here, they must all be occupied with trying to catch or kill the General´s Kids." Frey explained, as he looked around through his scans.

"Well then, Connor, Aloyse lead us the way." Dalia explained.

"Roger, according to the last contact we had with them, 20 minutes ago, they are momentarily fighting within the town, no change from their positions as far as our wide range scan can tell.

The Inhabitants seem to have barricaded themselves in a save shelter, so the battlefield is open for you to fight…, wait a correction, there seem to be some citizens with Betakin and the others, but they don´t seem to try and flee, instead they stay close to them three…, are those people, who try to help them?" Connor asked unsure.

"Seems so, but we cannot be sure, remember, the General told us that there might also be members of the New Moon Society hidden under the public, as normal citizens, so by all means be careful when you are approaching them." Aloyse explained.

"Roger, well then, we now are commencing the operation, Kids follow our lead!" Dalia explained, as their four-armed Mecha moved forward, leading the way, heading to the Centre of Bordaussie, the Capital Town, Schwarzwald.

"Have you located the Enemy in the air?" I heard Frey asking.

"Indeed, you ought to be careful, some of them are in close vicinity to you, if they spot you they will surely attack you." Aloyse explained.

"Understood, lets get going." Frey stated and so we made our way through the forest, coming across the Cemetery where we first met Lady Merveille and General Beluga.

It gave me quite a bittersweet feeling to see it, as it was the place where one part of our life ended and where a new one started, and it all started with a simple choice.

Bad or good, which side will you choose?

However, I had not the time to reminisce in old Memories and past events, I had to go on.

Our way led us towards the edge of the Town and already from there we could see the destruction caused by the invading forces.

"What in the world happened here?" I heard Yang asking in shock.

"Shields up, we ought to be careful, there still can be enemies under camouflage around here, our scans cannot bypass their disguising technology, at least not yet." Dalia replied, as she looked around.

"Roger." We stated looking around as well, our shields generated around our Mechas, just like we had trained for so long, mine with my hybrid forces and Yang´s with Nono.

We walked past the Scrap-yard, where we met Mr. Grenouille, another memory which I didn´t know whether it was supposed to be a good and important one, or just a simple irrelevant one, easy to forget.

Its walls had been teared down, even the Trailer was destroyed, even if I didn´t knew him that well, did I hope that Mr. Grenouille is alright and safe.

The entire town seemed to be dead, it was as silent as a graveyard on a windless day.

"Guys, from your left side I get signatures of energies rising, you better be careful, I bet there are enemies hiding somewhere, who get ready to attack." Connor announced and just as he finished to speak, I saw how a beam of energy came flying at me, I was able to dodge it by a hair´s breadth though.

"Wow, that was close, has anyone seen where it came from?" Yang asked as he went into battle position, tacking out his Lance, which resembled a giant blade strapped to a long staff.

If anything, it was more a spear, than the typical Lances one can see in histories about knights on horseback and their tournaments.

Or maybe they were created after the image of Nippon´s weapons.

Still, Pale Lancer sounded way better than Pale Knight or Pale Spear-wielder.

Same as my Mecha, Dark Archer, who, instead of Arch and Bow, possessed a sniper rifle, artillery and other long-range weapons, to shoot enemies from a safe distance.

If anything, it could also have been named as Dark Gunner or Dark Gunman, but I think Dark Archer sounds just as awesome.

"I think it came from over there." I pointed forward as I equipped my Shotgun.

I was trained in shooting by General Beluga himself, whose Mecha, Salamander, used similar weapons like mine.

As I aimed at the place where the beam came from, I saw how something flickered, in the same moment I shot.

"Perfect hit, there it is!" Dalia stated as she and Frey stayed at my side.

As I was a Long-distance fighter, I had bad defense while sitting in my Mecha, if I was to be ambushed by more enemies, I could be taken out without really being able to fight back, it was hard enough to keep the shield up while fighting, if I was attacked multidirectional, it would be hard to strengthen it all around me.

Meanwhile the projectile worked its wonders, the Bullet I shot off was of the newest model, it had been based on the same technology which Lady Merveille and General Beluga used 2 years ago, to deactivate the core of the two Titano Machinae, Lares and Lemures.

An E.M.P. Bullet.

As their Camouflage became useless to them, the fiend Mecha tried to move but was unable to do so properly, as the E.M.P attack messed with their controls.

All they could do was to watch in terror as Yang rapidly approached them with his lance, cutting of the arms and legs of the Mecha, rendering the same useless.

The Lance was strengthened by a plasma edge, which made it able to cut nearly anything, as long as he had enough time for it.

Whatever these Mechas were made of, it was most likely no Plasmantium, which would have been way harder to cut, Yang´s Blade easily went through, just like a warm knife through butter.

"One out, but there surely are more to come!" Dalia explained and I nodded.

"I bet this one has already called for backup once he spotted you, so you better be careful." Aloyse spoke my thoughts exactly.

"Betakin and the others are supposed to fight near the I.D.A. Headquarter, near the big Crossroad, if possible, you better come to their aid, they seem to be completely surrounded and it is only a matter of time until their defenses break down." Connor explained.

"Roger that, once we have cleaned up with these guys, we will meet up with them." Frey explained, as suddenly several enemies in Mechas arrived above our heads, floating with the help of jetpacks.

"Tell them to hold out a little longer, this here might take some time." I stated through grit teethes, as I rose my shotgun, only to instantly pull the enemy´s aggro onto myself.

It was clear that the previous enemy somehow told them about my E.M.P. bullets.

"I will keep them at bay and you attack them from afar, but make sure not to hit me!" Yang stated aloud as he instantly engaged the battle, scattering the enemy who were about to attack us.

"I will try my best." I replied as I began to focus my forces and used them to capture some of the Enemies before shooting them with the Bullets.

However, my ammunition was not infinite, so much was clear.

"Yami, you must try to take as many of them out, I will soon run out of non-lethal bullets." I explained to my brother.

I tried to keep myself from severely damaging the Mechas of the enemy, as to not accidently kill somebody, but at this rate, with them just keeping on coming, I would have to use the other kind of ammunition in no time.

"I would love to but I can´t for the moment." Yang stated as he fended of five attackers at once.

We had been trained harshly but that did not mean that the enemy hadn´t been as well.

We might have surprised them at first, but now they were more cautious to our attacks and actions.

"More enemies incoming from the west, they arrive from the forest, be careful." Connors voice explained.

"Understood!" Re replied in unison.

" _If this goes on, Alpharia and her siblings might be in serious trouble, if only we could break through and join them, if we are to six Mechas I am sure we have a far better chance of surviving and defeating them_." I thought, as I restored my shotgun and equipped my pistols instead.

"More incoming from the east!" I heard Frey´s voice.

"Dammit, just how many are there?" Dalia´s voice asked in frustration.

"We have counted about five Warships of the size of the Golden Roar and 30 tinier Airships, if each of the tinier has at least 10 Mechas inside then we are hopelessly outnumbered." Aloyse replied.

"Well isn´t that just perfect, finally we can let loose again!" Frey stated aloud..

"Seriously, uggh, why do you seem so happy at the prospect of having to fight over 300 enemies?" Dalia replied shaking her head in disbelieve.

"Maybe because I am in company of a woman with the strength of a hundred men, which just means that I have to take care of the other two-hundred myself…

I guess its time for some clobbering, it has been a while since I was so excited for a battle…, you guys go on ahead, we will join you in no time, the kids are waiting for reinforcement." Frey explained as he seemed really pumped up for a good fight.

"Are you sure about that?" We asked.

"Well if nothing else this idiot sure can fight, and I am also not just here for decoration, so yeah, you can leave this to us, we haven´t survived so long if it weren't for our abilities of turning harsh battles to our favor." Dalia explained, just as pumped up as her Partner, who grinned at her.

"We will take you by the word here, so don´t you dare die on us now, you got it?" Yang exclaimed as he rushed towards the center of the town, evading the incoming enemies.

"We count on you to return back safely, understood?" I stated and I could just see them grin on the monitor.

"That we have to listen to such things from our Juniors…, there is no way that we could lose now…!" Frey stated a dangerous aura around him.

"…I would be most ashamed if we would fall here…, after all a Senior is supposed to be someone to be looked up to!" Dalia continued.

They rushed past me and grabbed one of the attackers, who was about to engage me in a fight, only for Frey to crush the head of the Mecha, with the arms he controlled, before Dalia ripped the rest of it apart.

A savage act, befitting of their title as _**the Berserker-Pair**_.

"As we said, leave this to us!" They stated in unison, with a synchronic gesture of pure confidence, in form of a thumb up.

I simply nodded to it before I ran further east to the center of the Town, there were our friends were in need of help.

But we had no idea, just how much they really needed that help.

 _ **To be continued…**_

 _ **A/N: the last chapter of the Rise of Yin an Yang has been written and I hope some of you have liked this little insight into their back story.**_

 _ **After this story we start with `A tale of Shield and Sword´ which basically tells the further events out of the view of the million siblings, I hope you are all excited to see Betakin and Co returning.**_

 _ **We still got a few side stories, until the main story can continue, so the upcoming of the climax for the 1**_ _ **st**_ _ **Book might still last for a while before you can witness it.**_

 _ **Still, I really hope none of you are bored already, I know this story is huge, huger than others and I know that I might bore some of you with seemingly unnecessary parts of the story, but believe me everything written so far has significance for the later Books, believe it! (Dattebayo)**_

 _ **Anyways, I hope you all still have a good read and an interest in this story, so please continue reading for I will just continue writing.**_

 _ **Sincerely, yours truly, the Storyteller and his Books.**_


	12. A Tale of Shield and Sword 1, Shield

_**A tale of Sword and Shield**_

 _ **Chapter 1: The Impenetrable Fortress**_

 _ **The continuation of `the Rise of Yin and Yang´ from a different viewpoint, I hope you enjoy.**_

 _ **14**_ _ **th**_ _ **September 1511, 19:00 pm, Alpharia´s Pov:**_

It was Nuts, from the very beginning on this whole mission was just nuts.

How should we, 3 simple teenagers who just happen to have special powers and equipment, defend over 1.000 citizens and a whole Island, even if reinforcements were to come?

Still 2 hours without dying, 3 against 100 enemies, if not more.

" _Tch, speak of an unfair fight_." I muttered under my breath, as I used my shield-magic to defend my Siblings and those numbskulls of islanders by our side.

Those idiots, who thought they could do anything against our enemies, but in the process just ended up being in the way.

Momentarily they were more a burden to us, than a real help.

The only merit so far, of bringing them along, is that none of them has yet tried to betray us, just to safe their own life and that they informed us from incoming multidirectional attacks, which we could evade or block off, through me strengthening the shield on that spot.

20 eyes are still better than merely 6 after all, especially in our current situation, which could not be any worse.

We weren´t just stuck, surrounded in the Town´s church, no we were under siege and had literally no escape route nor a possibility to effectively fight.

If they wanted and believe me the way I see it they are more than willing to, they could just bomb the whole church to the ground.

The only reason I could imagine, of why they still haven´t done that yet, is because they want to play with us, mock us, telling us that no matter what we set against them, we will never defeat them and we all will lose everything we are fighting for.

And let´s be honest, our chances of success are currently lower than 50 %.

Our technological equipment has been taken out of comission, ever since these bastards used some kind of attack, which rendered our Mechas unable to function any longer, they dropped to the ground like lifeless chunks of metal and did not restarted in any way.

Betakin called that attack an E.M.P. wave, an Electro-Magnetic-Pulse attack.

A little I understood what it was, I´ve heard that term before in sci-fi movies and I read about theories in science Books, but honestly, I really thought that our Mechas were resistant to such kind of attacks, guess I was too optimistic.

Not to mention that they were instantly bombarded afterwards, luckily the escape hatch was hydraulic and didn´t required any electronical system to open up, otherwise we would be toast.

I almost thought I was a goner, as I was still stuck in my Luce.

Still, making our way to the church to hide inside its almost broken walls, was anything but easy, my shield forces weren´t as strong as I wished them to be, maybe it saved us from injuries but we still had to deal with the impact, which left us breathless more than once.

We were too optimistic.

Just as optimistic as Betakin was before, as he told us to fight, that we would just quickly beat the enemy and then get back to meet up with our Brother Red, that in the end we might even be seen as heroes.

Just as optimistic as I was, thinking that our powers would be supreme, invincible, that our training and our technology would win that battle for us.

Oh, how foolish that wishful thinking was.

We are nothing, we have trained for a few years and believed that our powers were top notch…, what a joke, we never had seen a real battle before, that much has been made painfully clear to me today.

We are jokes if we really thought, that we had a chance against them the way we are.

The first mistake we made was the preparation of killing people, of taking other people´s lives.

We weren´t prepared, not at all.

While sitting in the Mecha, we could use the mentality that it kinda was like playing some kind of videogame, it did not seem real to me, more like a simulation.

But once our Mechas were rendered useless, we suddenly had to fight on our own, with our own bodies, ourselves being there right on the battlefield, smelling the stench of death, hearing the screams of our enemies and the people we could not save, dying in the fire, seeing the gruesomeness of war and feeling the pain with every beat we took.

Suddenly what seemed like an Ego-shooter became painful reality.

I was not prepared for it and neither was Betakin, not to mention poor little Cetala.

We though we were strong, that we were supreme, that we were the ones to defeat the enemy, the destined ones, the chosen ones…, but we underestimated them, big time…, these Lycanians were born for war, created, brainwashed into fighting everything once the order has been given, knowing no fear, hesitation and most certainly no mercy nor moral.

We are fighting since an entire day and still did not seemed to have accomplished much, we hardly have slept and the news we have gotten from Professor Reginald haven´t been any happy ones either, they just keep dragging us down…, if anything I was exhausted and it showed itself in my performance in this battle.

The news which crushed me down the most were about Mom and Opera´s Airships having gone missing in the Devil´s throat.

Although Dad told us that mom had many problems to attend to, hadn´t we much of an idea of what was going on, until he contacted us, after hours of not a word being heard from him.

He said that the enemy was jamming his communication and he so had no opportunity to contact us until they were defeated.

He told us that almost everywhere, all across the Republic, people are being attacked by the same enemies we are currently fighting.

He fought alongside of Brother Red in Airedale against them, after Red and Co. liberated Bassett, the same was now heading towards the Darven islands and later on towards the Devil´s throat to save mom and the others, but foremost to stop the advancement of the local Lycanian Battalions.

Everyone we knew was fighting, fighting to safe people, fighting to survive another day.

We did the same but our entire mentality had been wrong from the very beginning, we are weak, that is what I have understood now most clearly.

The Days were awful but the worst was yesterday in the dead of night, as we had to fight and stay hidden, still oblivious about the situation outside of Bordaussie, unsure when Reinforcements were to come or at all.

Apparently, our call was not received by those who made decisions, the generals and vice-generals, the promise of getting back-up was never fulfilled and we had honestly no idea what to do, how to solve the entire situation.

We were glad as the battles finally subsided a little, giving us time to rest, even if just a little.

We were still under siege, no one knew when the enemy would attack again, and if we were any safe in the raid shelter.

Many Inhabitants were still in hiding, trapped within the town and we had to rescue them all, the entire night we ran back and forth through the town, always fearing we might be spotted and killed by the enemy.

But most of all, it were the screams of agony and pain, which nagged on our mind, whatever happened in the night, it was beyond gruesome, in many houses all we found were corpses and chunks of bloody flesh, severed limbs and so on, I nearly threw up right within my Mecha after witnessing it.

Then there were these things…, I could not describe it any better, it was most likely one of the things that had killed all the people, the one we encountered was like anything I had ever seen, it shrieked back as light fell on it, but instead attacked from the shadows, all we could do was to lure it into a Storehouse, close it in and ignite the lamps and flashbangs.

I wont ever forget these screams I heard that night.

By the time Dawn arrived, I was nearly at the end of my forces

From Cherry and Professor Reginal we got to know that during the night, 5 more warships added themselves to the three which already were here, we were terribly outnumbered and they told us to find some place save to rest for a bit.

Easier said than done though, by the time we reached the church, another E.M.P. wave hit the town, quite a massive one, it crippled our Mechas, fried their systems and left us without equipment and only with our combat armor, guns and knives and the weakening forces we still possessed.

While we rested in that Church, Betakin offered to keep the first watch, which I was grateful for.

He hid outside in disguise, while Cetala began to discuss the entire informations she had gathered during the day with Professor Reginald.

Meanwhile, as I dozed off ready to fall asleep, I remembered all the words I heard the people muttering and whispering, running their mouth about us, earlier that day, in the Raid shelter.

Even though we were here to defend and save them, they still talked shit about us.

" _How in the world could it get so far, that we´re risking our lives for people, who still view us Hybrids as some kind of cancer of society, as filth and monsters._

 _None of them understands us or even try to tolerate our existence before, they spit on us, hate on us once they find out that we exist, what we are, just like back then with Yin and Yang…., but when all hell breaks loose and when the sky is falling down upon them all, suddenly they all depend on us, begging us to fight for them to save them, just because we have those special forces._

 _Gosh, this makes me so mad_." I thought in anger back then, about all of this injustice.

Why can´t we live the way we are, why do we have to wear masks most of the time, just to not be ostracized by others.

To be honest I always hated being a Hybrid, something I told no one in my family directly, as to not make mom sad, but I think they already know it, I loathed the fact that I was different to the other kids of my age, my classmates and friends never knew about me being a hybrid or even a Paladin and I thought, that as long as it never gets out, I would be able to live a peaceful life.

I despised my own brother for his wish to have a normal romance with a girl, I loathed the fact that he had the luck to meet someone like Cherry, who, despite her own tragic experience with the fearsome powers of Hybrids, was understanding and accepting of us.

Why couldn´t I find someone like that, why had it had to be Betakin, who found true love first.

Why did I had to be such a nasty person, being jealous of everyone, even going as far as to try and destroy the relationship of my brother, although effortlessly as we have seen.

All I ever got, once people knew about our secret, were disgusted faces, loathsome glances and spiteful remarks.

" _It hurts…, It really hurts you know_." I though as I wheezed in exhaustion, as I had to block another massive bullet storm, if nothing else, my Defense was still strong, mostly thanks to _**Armatura Impervius.**_

The shield who had sucked up the excess power of the Sword for centuries, helped me much to maintain the forcefield we all were in right now, even if my own forces were nearly exhausted.

However…, I somehow have the feeling that I do not use it right, the shield´s powers were there, but for an ancient relic labeled as the impenetrable fortress, a shield able to defend an entire castle from any kind of damage inflicted to it, the shield´s power now, still let too much damage happen to us, such as the impact and ferocious violence of the attacks and other factors.

If anything, it was weaker than I had imagined it to be, just as strong as our Nono-forcefields, but not stronger.

Maybe it was because I lacked strength, and confidence, maybe it was something else, but I rather think that it was because I could not really concentrate myself on the task at hand…

Even with all the attacks flying at us and all the enemies on our heels, and even though now wasn't the time to think about such things, was I unable to forget the words I had to hear 3 hours before, there in the Raid shelter, in that same room in which we had gathered the people to defend them, to save them from being needlessly killed.

Where all the people were, for whom we had risked our own lives, to save theirs.

 _ **Flashback, 3 hours ago, 14th September 1511, 16:00 pm:**_

While I meditated to uphold the shield-spell, I was unable not to hear the nasty and spiteful muttering here and there, as the people eyed me with suspicion.

Some even whispered about how I was here to imprison them, when actually all I did was to put an extra layer of security over their lives.

To be honest, I was sick and tired of listening.

I was used to hear people trash-talking Hybrids in the newspaper, on radio and television, even 2 years after the incident with Nero and Blank as well as the appearance of Yin and Yang…, but I hoped I would have never to hear it directly, directed at myself for that matter.

But here I sat, having to concentrate, unable to shut my ears from it all.

"Say…., Alpharia…, are you really…., a Hybrid?" Suzanne, one of my Friends, at least I still hoped so but rather doubted it, asked me from afar, keeping a safe distance to me, looking at me with much reluctance and disbelieve.

To make it easier for the shield to be wrapped around us all, I sat right in the middle of the people, though most of them kept their distance as though I possessed a contagious disease.

Even my classmates and my friends kept their distance from me…, that was quite painful, people I had ate, joked, laughed and played with for so long over the last few years, suddenly looked at me as though I had murdered someone of them.

As I looked up to Suzanne and the others, I saw their doubting faces, the fear and the disgust in their eyes, still, from all of them, Suzanne was my best friend, to see her looking at me like this was the last I wanted to see.

When we still sat a few days ago together on the bench in the school yard, during noon break, speaking about crushes, love interests and other girl´s stuff, was I now ostracized by them, their fearful stances, the muttering, the doubting mines, it was enough to know what they really thought.

They thought of me as a monster, an alien, something unnatural, even though I was not even in trance-form and looked still the same as always, except of the E.H.C.A. I wore.

"For the last time, yes, I am a Hybrid, and I was born and I will most likely also die as one…., and no we are not here to conquer the republic." I stated.

" _We are not here to kill you or cause mayhem._

 _We all are not the same, not everyone of us want to create chaos and inconvenience for other people, we are not like Blank and Nero_!" I thought as I looked deep in their eyes but I bet even with me saying that, they would still not believe me and keep on questioning our motives, so I guess it was better to be completely open with them, not that there was any merit in hiding anything anymore, the damage was done anyways.

That's why the helmet of my E.H.C.A laid next to me, instead of being over my head, being armour and mask in one.

"In fact, we are here to defend this Island, our Home, from people like those who currently set our homes ablaze."

" _They are the enemy, not we_." I thought.

"And the only reason I stay here is due to all of you, after all someone has to defend you, should the enemy manage to proceed until here!" I explained and it was the truth.

If despite all or our efforts of hiding, the enemy still manages to find us, then we would be mincemeat if they attack without us having erected a strong shield.

Luckily the defensive-forces of Armatura Impervius were unbroken so far, the most difficult part however, was to actually keep these forces constantly generated.

" _A hybrid…, and in such a thing I was infatuated, I can´t believe myself_." I heard Mason Walker´s voice whispering, he was my Junior in the Martial Arts Club and I usually went along quite well with him, I knew he had a crush on me and I had to admit he was kind of cute, but that was before all of this happened.

" _I was attracted to the very thing I despise the most in this world, with such a monster, how could I?"_ He whispered but not low enough for me to miss and I felt my blood boiling.

There it was, I was called a thing, a monster, and abomination, just because I was a hybrid I was ostracized, spat on and mobbed.

None of these knuckleheads try to understand us hybrids, some of us just want to live in peace.

"If that is the limit of how far your love for me goes Mason, than it was never even meant to be in the first place.

I am what I am, especially when I take of the mask I had to wear for so long, for most of my life, do you honestly think it was any easy for me to constantly hold myself back not to show anyone, to conceal what I am, what I was born as?

I cannot change it, nor do I want to just because someone who has feelings for the masqueraded me, doesn't want to face the truth.

It is my life goddamit, either you like me the way I am or you do not, it´s not like I care anymore!" I replied and he instantly shut his trap.

" _If you want me to keep defending you, you better zip it with your hateful words_." I thought, as I looked deep in Masons eyes, while the same quickly averted his eyes.

Seriously, this makes me so mad.

"Could you all now be quiet, I got to concentrate and I don´t need any more hate speeches, mistrusts and what do I know directed at me and my family.

I´m just here to do my job, to fulfil the purpose I was born for, nothing more nothing less, if anyone of you wants to say something mean, save it, I don´t wanna hear it." I spat with much venom.

" _I heard all of it before, all the shamming, all the blame we have gotten for things we aren´t to blame for, not all of us are the same as those who attacked the Republic, some of us just want to live peacefully_." I thought with boiling anger, thinking back at how often I had to smile while hearing people trash-talk Hybrids, to keep the charade up.

"I want to live too, you know, and the last time I checked, I am in no real obligation to actually defend and safe any of your lives, especially when I know that people will later on trash-talk me and my family, I am contracted to no one, I could just cancel the shield and leave and none of you could stop me, cause none of you would have a right to do that.

So stop trash-talking me and my family and call me a thing…, or a monster…, or whatever…., or else I really will consider leaving you all behind!" I replied in a loud voice and all of a sudden it was as silent as a grave.

" _Thank god….., silence at last_." I thought as I finally was able to calm down, just before I heard my brothers voice in my ear.

 _ **Flashback End:**_

To hear all of that shit was heavy enough for me to stomach but the attack from the New Moon society, of people we were supposed to save, was what made me lose even more of my confidence, that I was actually doing the right thing.

I was sick and tired of hearing those kinds of insults, couldn´t they see that I was risking my life for them, why did they keep on trash-talking us, when they themselves don´t bend a finger to save themselves.

"I hate this here." I stated to the felt hundredth time.

"We got it Alpha, it´s not like I don´t hate our current situation either, but for now we just have to hold out until reinforcements arrive, apparently some has just landed on the island behind the forest, all we have to do is to wait for them." Betakin explained.

"Well they were supposed to come already yesterday, what has happened to their promise of sending us some men back then, got any clue from the Professor?" I asked harshly, my mood having hit rock-bottom for quite a while now.

"Not sure, but apparently the order for reinforcement never reached the second-in-command or anyone with the needed authority in the Jade Dragon Palace.

Same as Fathers communication, maybe ours was jammed as well, or redirected towards someone who is in ties with the Lycanians, who says the New-Moon-Society is only active in the public, I would not be surprised if some of them even work for the Kurvaz.

It´s not even them who appeared now, but some of S.I.T.K.A., most likely Yin and Yang, if they were to help us, we might have a chance to turn this whole mess around." Betakin explained.

"Even with them here, are we still hopelessly outnumbered, if their Mechas were to fall as well, then this reinforcement has accomplished nothing.

What we need is someone with enough firepower to take these warships down, before they can initiate another E.M.P. attack.

Ever since these freaking things have arrived here, we are cornered and anyone who still hold up high hopes is simply a moron…., if anything it was a mistake to take these people with us, now they are but simple targets, we barely can protect them, and that won´t help much if we wish to actually accomplish anything." I explained.

"Not to mention that the people in the raid shelters are currently without any real safety ever since we are trapped here, if we cannot break free it will be just a matter of time until they are being caught." Cetala replied, as she tried to plan an escape way.

"We just have to hold out for 2 more hours, I am sure that Dad will come with the White Whale and safe us all." Betakin stated, once again optimistic, too much for my taste.

"I really hope you are right there, for if we die, I will make sure to haunt you forever, got it." I replied and he sighed.

"I know, I know…, going on stand-by for the time being, keep the lines open, I will contact you guys if I spot anything unusual!" He replied before I hear some noises, indicating that he moved.

" _I would like it more if you would stay here, I don´t trust the E.H.C.A.´s to keep you completely safe_." I muttered under my breath…, we may butt our heads and argue a lot with each other, but in the end we are family, he still was my precious little brother…., I would hate to lose him.

Not that I would ever speak that out loud…, though I doubt I really had to do so…, I bet he knows it anyways.

"Come back safe and sound, got it." I stated blushing.

"….Understood, big Sis." He replied with a smile before he vanished in the shadow of a nearby building.

"Got any plans or strategies yet, Ceta?" I asked as I kept observing our immediate surroundings.

"Nothing we can do expect leave this place and our Mechas behind and barricade ourselves into the raid-shelters, holding out until reinforcement and help arrives." Cetala replied.

"Well I guess that is the best we can do, we aren´t really much of a help outside of here anyways.

If the enemy just keeps on duplicating, all we can do is holding the fort until the cavalry arrives, I guess." I mumbled.

"We never really been trained for such a situation, all we ever believed to have to fight, was if only a few enemies would ever invade, like sky pirates or the like, not an whole warmongering armada…, also we always calculated immediate help from the Kurvaz into our plans…, but this is so not like that…., we are out here alone, trying to defend and rescue thousands of citizens, just the three of us and that since yesterday.

Our stamina is not endless, so are our nerves and ideas, I am running out of options and cards to play.

With their EMP attacks they can destroy any Electronic in a radius of a mile, so sending other technologic Tools from the ranch won´t help us in any way, it might just play right in the enemy´s hand, if they get to know about our level of technologies." Cetala explained.

"Well you sure are right…, and all I can do is defend people, I have not even the brains to come up with a suitable and flawless plan like you and my attack power is not even strong enough to be of much help to Betakin, I´m just the shield after all…, I kind of feel myself useless." I replied.

"But you aren´t, you truly give yourself the least credit here, you only listed our strongpoints, but what about yours, we aren´t half as versed in defense spells like you, maybe you are just the Shield of Armatura Impervius…., but that also means that you are the only one who stands between life and death to the citizens and ourselves, if all else fails.

You are just as important than Betakin and myself, stop thinking you are less than us…, stop holding yourself back." Ceta replied and I somehow felt my confidence returning, even if just a little.

"Heads up guys, we get company and not the one we like to have!" I heard Betakin stating aloud over the Intercom and just in that moment some kind of Aircraft came swooping down on us, their canons at the ready.

"Dammit!" I could only shout as I instantly used my Nono, which had a little rest before, to create a force field around the church.

As the bullets stroke the same like a hailstorm, I found my own forces diminishing more and more, visible in the cracks which the forcefield got.

"God. Freaking. Dammit. All!" I shouted as I casted a second shield spell, to shield the men and us directly, without the Church.

As the first shield broke, the hailstorm teared the little church apart bit by bit.

Thanks to channeling all my remaining power into this shield, the same held out as the roof of the church came crashing down on us.

"Why can´t they leave us alone, what is it what they want?" I asked close to crying in desperation, my stamina close to total exhaustion.

The rubble of the roof pushed with extreme weight down on us and I feared that I could only keep this shield up for perhaps 5 more minutes.

"Betakin, do something against them!" I shouted in desperation.

"I´m already on it!" The same answered loudly, as I heard more gunshots but not directed at the church.

"Cetala, Help me, we need to push a hole through the rubble, otherwise we will be crushed." I shouted over the noise of gunshots and collapsing brick walls.

"I´m on it!" She replied aloud, as she too used her forces to fuel my own, pumping them right inside of me.

To say it felt good was an understatement, it felt downright soothing.

Father once said that our own personality reflected itself in our magic.

Cetala usually had a calmer and friendlier character than both Betakin and myself, if she was herself at least, and it showed itself in her magical forces, they felt warm and nice, like a nice breeze atop a hill in the summer.

Betakin´s on the other hand felt a little cooler and simple, not too nice not too cruel, just plain normal, like a cloudless day in spring.

My own magic felt even colder than his, cold and unapproachable.

To be honest it made me sad that I was always so different from everyone.

Even my trance form, which I only ever used twice in my life, seemed to be far more reckless than my usual self, according to what Mom and Dad said after I returned back.

Even normal, I wasn´t too shy to speak my mind and to do things in my own way, maybe that´s why I often seem to have little regard for what my siblings do, but that wasn´t true at all.

" _All I ever wanted was to be an idol they could look upon, but in the end, I always be inferior to them_." I thought as I felt how, with Cetala´s help, the shield expanded itself and pushed the rubble aside.

"Everyone we need to get out of here, if we stay here we will be an easy target, everyone, back to the raid shelter." Cetala exclaimed loudly taking the command, and the men of the IDA listened to her every word.

" _If it were me, would they really follow me_?" I wondered…, then again, would I even want them to follow me, as mistrusting to people as I was, would I really want to have a bunch of strangers depend on me, trust me with their lives?

Haven´t I rather forced myself unto them, because it is my duty, if it wasn´t, would I even have made a suggestion to them at all?

I remembered what I told the people in the raid-shelters before.

That I had no personal obligation to help them, I could very well just leave them as they were, not caring about them.

If I would leave them, they would be sat out to danger, they would have to fetch for themselves.

I said all this and maybe deep down I really believed it, I was trash talked by that stupid guy, my own friends, which I had considered as such, kept their distance from me, looked at me in fear and doubt.

The people I sat at the table in school and ate my lunch with, the people I had studied in the library together with, the people I spoke, laughed and joked together, suddenly viewed me as something out of this world, as something alien.

I told them all that, but lets be honest…, did I really, really meant what I said…, wasn´t it rather my sorrowful heart which made me say all this?

Do I really want them to fetch for themselves…, even if I have no obligation to help them…, was it then right to leave them be, powerless as they are?

" _If only one…, if just one of them would actually be happy that I am what I am…, then maybe things wouldn´t be as bad as they feel to me, maybe I would be able to believe that my life will not end afterwards, when all is done and peace has returned_." I thought to myself as we made our way, stumbling over the rubble, outside of the destroyed church.

That was another of my fears.

If by any chance we do survive, how will it go from there, what will happen to us, will we be seen as abnormal and avoided or will people even accept our existence at all, will we be able to keep going to school, will our classmates even want to be in the same classroom as we…., or will they ostracize us, just like they did with Yin and Yang, will we end up having to move to the White Whale as well?

"Alpharia…, are you alright?" I heard a voice asking, I looked up to see Cetala looking at me with deeply concerned eyes.

Only now I felt the wetness on my cheeks, I must have cried making her worry.

"It´s nothing." I quickly replied, wiping them away.

"No it is definitely something, you haven´t been your usual self for a while now, don´t play me for a fool, I have an eye for that Sis." Cetala stated with narrowed eyes.

"I…., really, it´s nothing." I replied, unsure if I should really tell her my fears, fears which did not only concerned myself but her and Betakin as well.

The last I wanted to see, were people hating on my little sister, even more so, if it ends up being her own school comrades, her friends…, I don´t want her to suffer.

"Alpharia…, I…." she stated with a concerned voice but was harshly interrupted.

"Guys, help!" We suddenly heard it on the Intercom, my head spun around to the direction in which Betakin had ran only to see how he was cornered, a little girl in his arms, most likely a survivor from somewhere out of the broken houses, behind which he had taken cover before.

He had a shield generated, while the strange aircraft from before, although quite beaten, but still flying, fired at him with all its might.

While I processed all of that in a few split-seconds, my body had already set itself in motion unconsciously.

I ignored the shouts of Cetala as I left the safe shield, shouldering the spell on her, I ignored the doubt in my heart that I might be too late, that I might not make it.

All I saw before me was my little brother being in danger for his very life, trying to protect someone.

Who was I to let him die?

I ran as fast as my feet could support me, as fast as the cracked and torn-apart ground allowed it to me, as fast as the wind, which punched itself into my face with a metallic stench, allowed it to me.

I ignored the gun-muzzles which were pointed at me, the shouts of my brother to get away from there, to leave him be and safe myself.

I even ignored the fact, that despite the enemy being ready to fire, my heart felt no other fear, then the prospect of my brother dying in vain, trying to save someone, just because it was the right thing to do.

Yes, this was the answer, the answer which differed me from my siblings, which made me look weak compared to them, which I truly should have thought about when I questioned myself earlier.

We fight because we can, we save because it is the right thing to do, we do it because no one else can.

As I questioned the value of me saving the lives of people, who do not even tolerate our existence, I had forgotten something so fundamental.

Something so stupidly simple.

Something I had preached to someone else, as he wanted to forget about the lives they had erased…, and now in this very situation, I had forgotten all about it.

Every life is precious, every life has a purpose no matter what it is, we ought to honor the gift of life given to us and we all need to do what we can to not let it go to waste.

Who am I to judge whose life is more worth saving than the other, what would I become if I decide to only save the people I care for, when I clearly have the power to save everyone.

I don´t need everyone to like me, if I have but only a few who like me the way I am, I can consider myself happy…, its not like there aren´t such people, we got Yin, Yang, Connor and Orphelia, Professor Feravente, Professor Reginald, even Lady Opera, although she still does not know about our hybrid heritage, but I am sure she can accept it…, and I am sure that along the way, in the future, we will make even more friends.

It would be sad for sure, but if my friends would decide to cut me out of their lives, then so be it, life goes on, it is not the end of the world, as long as we won´t let it become such.

"Seriously, how could I be so stupid to forget something so fundamental!" I shouted at myself as I arrived right within the small shield of Betakin and used my newborn confidence to fuel my own wrath upon my self-loathing, my self-doubt and my own cowardice.

Just in the same moment as the Aircraft fired again.

Betakin stood here, risking his life no matter for whom, he saved anyone he could, regardless of the fact if they like himd or even know him and he them at all, he saved them because he wanted to and because he could do so.

I as his big sister should have been an Idol to him and Cetala and walk infront of them, protecting them, instead of keeping myself in the back and let myself being protected and consoled by them instead.

"No citizen is going to die here anymore, not on my watch!" I shouted aloud as I suddenly felt a massive power flowing through me, like the tides of the ocean, climbing higher, getting stronger per second.

"I save these innocent people, all of them, no matter who they are, why you ask…, because it is the freaking right thing to do!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I released all of my power in one go, the shield got bigger and bigger, enveloping Cetala and the men, the town plaza, expanding even further.

I could even feel the presence of Yin and Yang and some other people, even the people in the raid shelter, it suddenly was as though the shield put a protective blanket all over the town.

The Enemy was pushed away by the expanding forcefield and had to turn away from us, unless they wanted to crash.

"This is truly the right answer my child, _**the Sword and the Shield forge a unity**_ , if the sword is willing to protect the lives of innocent people, but the shield is not, then this unity suffers, so it is vise versa, if however both are in sync, their power is stronger than every magic shield ever generated." I suddenly heard a voice calling out to me.

Right infront of us something huge crashed right into the ground, spraying dust and tiny rubble all around.

It was nothing which came to harm us, or else the shield would have repelled it.

A Mecha unlike anything I have ever seen before.

Similar to ours he had an inverted cockpit, his main color was Black with just a bit red and white, it reminded me of…

"Father…, is that you?" I asked dumbfounded as I looked at this foreign black Mecha

"Indeed, unfortunately Salamander was out of commission for the time being and since a father should not leave the weight of the world upon the shoulders of his children, I decided to trust in your mother´s genius and use _**the yet untested**_ _**Mecha Salamander GX, aka Nephilim**_ , which still stood in the White whale, the same will arrive here in a short while.

You have done well, all three of you, I can say with every fiber of my being that I am proud of you, proud to be able to call you my Children, now rest and let us grown-ups handle the rest." Father´s voice appeared over the intercom.

"No Dad, why should we leave all the weight to you, you are old, you need to keep care of your frail body, so let us young folks help you too, now that some of us seem to be highly motivated to do so." Betakin explained with a wink to me and I blushed.

"I´m not that old…, still, if you think you still can do so then by all means go for it, you are soon old enough to make your own decisions anyways, as well as facing the consequences of your actions.

But I know, that if you stand together you will overcome any hardship that might come your way in the future.

You have big things ahead of you so don´t you dare stop now, see it through to the end." Father stated as we all assembled, Cetala as well as Yin, Yang and that other Mecha which had arrived with them.

The little girl which Betakin and I had protected together was being given in the custody of the Men, who were to make their way towards the Raid shelters, after we witnessed how the bullets just bounced of the shield, keeping the town safe for the time being.

"Dad…, I want to fight too…, I don´t want to just stay here and keep the shield up, if I do so…, how will I ever become stronger, I want to be of help to you guys directly, I want to be your support…, can´t I?" I asked unsure and after thinking for a bit he nodded.

"Alright, then bring the people to the raid shelter and envelop them in a lasting shield, once that is done, you are free to engage the enemy, but by all means be careful, your mother would rip my head off if anything was to happen to you guys." Father replied and I nodded.

"Remember Alpharia, the town can be rebuilt again, but a lost life is lost forever, keep that in mind when you defend these people." He stated with serious eyes and I saluted with equal seriousness, I had learned my lesson and I did well not to ever forget it again.

"I will be on my Way." I stated and they nodded.

"Be careful sis, I would hate it to lose you." Betakin stated and I blushed deep red.

"I will be, i´m long not done with bossing your sorry ass around." I joked and he smiled with an awry smile.

"Alpha, be careful we don´t know what else these people have in store." Cetala stated and I nodded taking her in my arms, cuddling her.

"I will be back in no time, I swear, you guys keep yourself out of harm too, understood, once I have pulled the shield back, its up to your own forces to keep yourself safe for the time being, until I return to support you." I replied and she nodded.

"You guys support them until I come back, got it?" I stated, directed towards Yin and Yang.

"Of course, you can count on us, we still owe you guys a lot and we would hate to disappoint all the expectations of our comrades and friends." Yin stated while Yang nodded, before both saluted.

"Well then, I am on my way, be careful, all of you!" I stated looking at each one of them, even the Mecha whose pilots I still don´t know.

" _She sure has grown in the last few hour…, but so have_ I." I heard Betakin stating as I led the men and the little girl away.

I smiled a little about it, before I felt how my hand was squeezed a little tighter.

"No fear, I swear to bring you in a safe place, just believe in me." I stated towards the little girl at my side, who looked up to me in fear, but also in hope, the fear was not directed to me, but I guess it was the overall situation which frightened her, who wouldn´t be.

"I do, I believe in you big Sis!" She stated with a nod and I somehow warmed my heart to witness this, to have such a tiny little girl depending on me without reluctance in her voice nor her eyes, her tiny hand clasping mine.

It was just like back then after Cetala was born, as I grabbed her hand for the first time in my life, feeling the vulnerability of this tiny little life, a life I had and wanted to protect.

Betakin was right, I have changed, I do not know this girl, but I swore to myself to at the very least save this girl, the one for whom my brother almost risked his life.

A little girl who showed no fear nor any reluctance while being in my company, a soul definitely worth to be saved, this girl had a future…, and by my blood, by my honor as a member of the Million clan, I will protect this future.

"May you help me with all your might, to make this desire come true." I thought as I felt the weight of _**the Shield in my hand**_.

 _ **To be continued….**_


	13. A Tale of Sword and Shield 2, Sword

_**A tale of Sword and Shield**_

 _ **Chapter 2: Blade of the Righteous**_

 _ **Betakin´s Pov:**_

We had a chance, due to Alpharia´s Awakening as Shield…., a new perspective has been shown to us, a new way of doing what is right…., but one thing was clear to us all, this Battle which we fought was long not over.

Still, our Resolve to defend our home was hard and sharp as the Steel we used…., at the very least that's how it should be.

As wielder of Armatura Impervius, one of the Seven Swords of the Lunar King, it was my duty to fight all evil.

However, to fight with this sword, or to properly wield it, were two pairs of shoes to wear, which could not be any more different, but it lasted a while before I got to realize that, even longer than Alpharia took to solve her own problems and get over her own doubts.

 _ **Flashback, 2 hours ago:**_

I still doubted, not in my abilities, or in the context of my doing, my motivation…, no, what I doubted was the question if I even used this sword right.

" _Isn´t it supposed to be one of the strongest swords ever, so why does it keep on refusing to show its true power to me, can it be, is it in the end really just supposed to defend…, but not to attack itself_?" I wondered.

A question I asked myself for a while now.

Even if I managed to get a good strike at an enemy, such as ghouls, the sword only acted as any other normal sword would and then again not.

It slices through the enemy…., but it does not destroy, nor kill anyone.

From a sword to vanquish all evil, to banish all darkness and ill will , I honestly expected far more.

Not that it was my intention to deliberately kill anyone I wish with it.

However, if you have to make the choice before defending your people and defeating your enemies, so they can´t hurt them any longer, isn´t it rather a given, that you fight to free them, instead of backing yourself and others into a corner…, isn´t a swords duty to choose the battle, while the shield protects?

At least that´s how I see things.

But maybe my perception of things is completely wrong here, Armatura Impervius is also known as the Impenetrable Fortress, so maybe that's what the sword actually does, put up a barrier to defend, alongside the shield.

It protects those who otherwise would be without protection, while the other six swords were supposed to fight.

However, does that also mean, that it is the same case, if the Sword is the only one of the Seven swords on the Battlefield?

Isn´t there an exception to the rule?

Hasn´t the shield of this Sword been created through alchemy and magic crafting, precisely to take that burden of the sword when required.

If Armatura Impervius is the only magic sword on the Battlefield and all it does is protect the wielder and his allies, then how can the enemy, who is too powerfull for regular and ordinary weapons, be vanquished at all.

Is it our fate to wait underneath a giant dome of protective magic until the enemy losses interest or until someone else is able to defeat them?

"If _that is the case, why has it the shape of a sword to begin with, if it would have been a shield all along, I would understand but…?"_ I kept wondering as I looked at the blade in my hand.

Although I felt power surging through it and even though the runes on its blade spoke of great power and might, did it still refused to show such.

I might have asked this question a million times before in my mind and yet I haven´t found a snitch of a suitable answer to it.

"What is the purpose of a sword which can´t kill?" I said to myself in sheer frustration, after slicing an enemy which backed away in agony.

"I don´t know son…, but does a sword really have to kill, is a sword really nothing but a weapon of murder, meant to erase a life, no matter whose?" Father replied, after we stood back to back, our group surrounded by Lycanians.

"What do you mean, as sword is after all created with the intent to kill with it, isn´t it?" I asked him with skeptical eyes.

"I wouldn´t know about that, for I never used a sword myself, all I ever used were guns and crossbows and archery and they worked flawlessly, maybe also because my resolve to use them for certain reasons was strong in me." He stated shrugging and I sighed in disappointment.

"Geez thanks a lot Dad, but that doesn´t help me here at all, you know?" I replied and he snickered.

"Maybe so…., but one thing I know, even if it are Lycanians and Ghouls, your mother wouldn´t want you to become a coldblooded murderer either way, especially not if it is to such a convenient reason as to say, I had to, to defeat the enemy…, to defend my people.

You said it yourself once…, erasing a life is nothing you can ever forget, or at the very least you should not forget about it.

Maybe some of these Lycanians had been brainwashed, some of them may be forced to partake in this war, as a means to keep their loved ones alive and out of trouble.

I´ve lived long enough to know all kinds of people, Beta.

I can tell that not all of them are willing to fight to the death, but its either fight or see your family die, that's how the real Lycanians operate when sending their troops into battle.

I´ve seen it in Airedale, one of their peers had been turned into a high-ranking ghoul, just for failing to kill Red the night before.

He lost almost his entire sense of self, only at the end, before he died, he seemed to be relieved that he was stopped.

The Girl I told you about before, Charlotte, an Orphan from Bassett, Red told me that she pointed out that its cries sounded lonely and full of fear, not entirely aggressive and that she kept hearing a voice asking for help, whenever their eyes met.

I know it is true and the real thing, because also in Ragdoll, some people were sensitive to finding the true meaning behind words and actions of others, they just feel what you try to hide or what you cannot tell.

We called them _**Truth-seekers**_ , in the modern world they would be called Psychologists, they peer into your soul, through your actions and words and they can, if skilled enough, lay your innermost character bare for others to see.

I would say that out of 100 Lycanians, at the very least, 10 have been forced to fight, to take up arms and kill other innocent people.

You see, not everyone of them wishes to kill, they are simply forced to, trying to protect their own life or that of others.

Then again, there are also that kind of people who kill for fun, who find fulfilling in ruining others life as they feel that their own is miserable or that they serve a greater cause that way.

Those twisted minds are what makes them so dangerous, they fight until there is no life left in them." Father explained and I nodded in understanding.

"So the sword is like one of those Truth-seekers you spoke about, it determines whom to kill or wound and whose life to spare, because it can feel their innermost desire?" I asked and he shrugged.

"I suppose so, otherwise I too cannot explain why it would refuse to kill, even when it is clearly a sharp sword.

To me it seems as though the sword only hurts half-innocent enemies to certain degree, immobilizing them but not directly kills them.

However, if such a person isn´t helped soon after, they still might die on that wound.

The sword can kill, but only indirect or unless itself deems it the right cause of action.

One thing is for sure, over the course of my long life I have seen many strange things and mysteries, but that sword is perhaps the greatest one I have seen yet.

In my opinion we should drop our assumption, that the seven swords are but swords with complex magic weaved into them, and think more of them as sentient beings, trapped in sword form.

Sentient Magic, if it is to run free, can bring either prosperity or calamity, depending from which nature it is influenced, benevolent or malevolent.

If your intent to kill prevails over your intent to save lives, the safeguard weaved into the magic upon its creation, prevents the sword from unleashing its full potential, so maybe you should try to think less about killing and more about preserving the lives of others, after all we fight to save, to bring back peace to our island, not to vanquish the enemy and destroy him.

Still as I said before, this is but my own opinion, I think it all points down on you finding the answer within yourself, my son." Father explained and I nodded, I understood his point and I think there is truth spoken within it.

Still, I had no idea if I had the time to find that answer I sought, while trying to fight of the Lycanians and the ghouls.

"Here take one of these, I think for now we have no way to decide whether to spare lives or kill them all, we need to take down the aggressors one way or another, to stop all of this madness, I am sure you soon will find the opportunity to find the answer you seek.

For now, all I can tell you is to fight and survive, even if this siege is over, the battles outside surely will not end so easily.

We need to wrap up things here quickly, we still have a rendezvous with the Devil." Father explained and I knew what he meant as he threw a sword over to me, which he found on the ground, maybe one of the weapons of a dead I.D.A.-man.

Every second we wasted here fighting the Lycanians off, trying to drag them from the Island, mother has to fight for her life in the Devil´s Throat alongside her comrades and survivors.

We ought to hurry it up.

 _ **Flashback end:**_

So we said, but in the end, even after 2 more hours, the siege nor the enemy was in no way beaten down, if anything was though, it definitely seemed to be our resistance.

"Dammit, how long does it take for the Back-up to arrive?" I wondered as I shielded my father´s back from an attack, knocking the attacker out, with the hilt of my sword.

It´s edge seemed to become duller with every Lycanian it slashed, as if something wanted to prevent me from killing at all.

It might be misplaced in an actual battle, but little did I know, that only that saved my soul from being corrupted by the bloodshed, probably.

"They should be here in a while…., then again, if we struggle with that many enemies, I highly doubt they are doing any better.

Precisely to keep us from joining up with them, the enemy is coming in huge waves to prevent any more resistance from our side.

If we were to fall, this Island would be free for the taking." Father explained as he fought of some enemies.

"Reporting, second team has finally breached through the barricades and is on its way towards your location, they will join up very soon." We heard the voice of Professor Reginald out of the portable radio.

" _At long last they made it_." I sighed in relief.

"Alpharia seems to have joined them, also have we gotten a report from the Jade Dragon Palace, after some kind of commotion there, they finally managed to send out more fleets to join us, once they arrived, Professor Aurelia will begin her own assault against the war ships." the Professor continued.

"What kind of commotion, what has been going on there?" Father asked with a dark mine.

"Mutiny, it seems that there had been a large number of enemies been mixed under our soldiers, that's what prevented communication with the White Whale before.

Currently I was reported that Ex-General Sir Quebec has taken over the facility, in order to coordinate the further measurements, he seemed to have gotten a ride towards Nervo and Norva by an _**old acquaintance of him,**_ which just happened to have been in Basset by that time.

Although the control over the Jade Dragon Palace has been regained, unfortunately the majority of traitors managed to escape, the facility is in disarray, but still functioning enough to get some things done.

However, it is to expect, that there also had been some traitors on board of both, the Golden Roar and the Royal Envy.

Sir Quebec assumes that this might have been the reason why the Royal Envy got this fake distress signal in the first place, which forced them to go near the Devils Throat.

As of now we still haven´t been able to get into contact with any of them both." Prof. Reginald explained.

"I see, well at the very least we just might be able to finally wrap things up here, luckily we have a cloudless night ahead of us, so the moonlight will prevent the Ghouls from acting all to lively, compared to yesterday night, that just might give us some advantages in this Battle.

Still, be careful and always wary of any possible attack, even things you deem as most unlikely to happen, might indeed be possible." Father explained as his bullets hit several enemies, mowing them down, one by one.

I wondered how he manages to fight so well, and yet when I try to do the same, nothing seems to work out as I intended.

" _Just how do you do that father_?" I whispered in admiration, as well as in frustration about my own incompetence.

"Willpower and faith, pure simple faith in my doing, that what I do is necessary to keep innocent lives safe.

However, there is also a deep Understanding required.

The ones who kill, always need to be prepared of being killed in return, if you cannot stomach this simple rule, you will never be able to fight a battle to the death and survive it.

Your fear will taint your skill, but having no fear at all, can easily turn into recklessness.

I fight to protect you, my family, this island and its peoples.

My greatest fear is to mess up and loosing you, or to be killed and losing all of you, to lose your sisters, your mother and you, my dear son.

In order to prevent that from happening, I have trained, I train and most likely will keep on training…, until the day, that my time is over and I will have to offer this heritage to you.

The duty of a Father is to open up the paths for his children´s stories.

He observes them, keeps them save until they are ready to write their own tales." Father stated with a mine that spoke of deepest believe.

"About 300 years ago, I always was of the believe that I would keep on living on Ragdoll and one day in the far future would die, without ever achieving anything worthwhile.

That I would die unnoticed by anyone, maybe acknowledged for a while, but I was sure no one would shed a tear for me, my loved ones, Father, Mother…, even my Big Sister, they all had died before me, I have no more relatives who are left to me anymore.

Back then I truly thought to die alone…, to be honest I even was at a point, where I would have willingly welcoming death, as a means to have no longer to suffer.

But ever since I met Merveille, ever since you kids were born, my life has turned around a whole 360 degrees.

Now I am afraid to die, to leave you and lose you, I know that someday it has to end, but if I can drag this inevitable fate out for even one more day, I will do my everything to achieve that.

Nowadays all I wish for is to sit upon the veranda on a bench with Merveille and watch the sun go down, knowing that we have survived another day in peace and freedom, knowing that you Kids are growing up well and that you blessed us with many grandchildren.

Knowing, that the world around us has become a harmonic place again and that the love we feel will never die until its fire burns out for good, this is the vision that I wish to become true, but as my Sister always used to say, miracles don´t occur wildly, we are the ones to make them.

But I will not sit by and watch this world being turned into chaos and fall under the Tyranny of Lycan or whoever tries to rise such, to see my kids being suppressed into slavery…, that is no option I would ever allow and to prevent this I will fight with all I've got, even if it costs my life and my dreams." Father stated with a serious face.

His voice spoke of deepest regret, grieve but also of hope, pure determination and faith.

To be honest I always felt that father was the one whom I resembled the closest to, since I had not that much of interest in technological or scientific things like mom, but now in this very moment, I understood that this was not the case, we might have some similarities, after all we are parent and child…, but I came to the realization, that my way might take a whole different direction than his.

I never told this to anyone, but I was dying to leave this island…., to see what is beyond the boundaries of my home, of this republic.

A dream I shared with Cherry, who too wanted to see the world.

But I understood that mine and fathers wish line up along the way.

"After all, to do that, the world first had to survive this new war." I thought as I glance upon the incoming new wave of enemies.

"If I wish to see the world, I have to defend the same, but I also have to defend this island, these people, after all, what is a world-travel worth, if there is no home we could return to, after having seen all there is to see." I thought as I glance back at the destroyed and tormented city.

"I will not allow anyone to lay waste to this island like this, never again!" I stated loudly as I engaged the enemy in combat.

The sword I wielded has become dull from all the hard armors it slashed upon and I knew I would have to soon find another weapon.

" _If only I knew how to use this sword for real_." I thought as I did so often in the last few hours.

But then it struck me like lightning.

Didn´t father just said, that we should throw away the assumption that this sword was a mere weapon, a mere tool, but rather a sentient being, sentient Magic if you will.

" _Maybe…, but yes, if this is a sentient being, why would I try to control it then, why should I force my own will upon it, isn't that as if I tried to enslave the sword, isn´t that the exact same thing I am currently fighting against…., maybe the right way to use the sword is not to use it at all…, but to let it lead me instead, to let the magic guide me_." I thought as realization hit me.

All this time it was I who tried to decide where to go, whom to kill and what to destroy, never once I tried to let the sword do that instead.

If father was right and the sword determined on its own what action to take, then I was setting my will against its own will, the whole time.

" _Than it is no wonder that I cannot wield it properly_." I thought as I looked at the sword, which emitted a certain shimmer all of a sudden.

"If this is what it takes to become a proper wielder, a knight worthy of this sword, then so be it…., Armatura Impervius, may your magic guide us in the right direction, I, Betakin Damiens Million offer you my body as vessel.

Let us fight together, in order to save all innocents." I thought and it was as though the Shimmer got brighter.

" _As you wish, my Master!_ " I thought to hear a voice and for a split second I thought to see a huge being infront of me.

A being like I had never seen before, it seemed to be surrounded by some sort of shell, only its long neck and head, as well as four feet and a tail looked out of the same.

I was engulfed into the light of the sword and I could see how the Ghouls backed away in fear and agony.

This is it, you have found the right way my son…, now go and do what has to be done, in order to save this island and its peoples.

Your light and the moon are on our side." Father stated aloud to motivate me and I knew he was right.

I was raring to go and finally be able to fulfill my duty as a Knight of Maranell Wolvenra, a knight of my Brother, Prince Red Savarin.

"Guys, I´m back!" I heard a voice shouting behind us, I turned around to see that Alpharia had re-arrived again, adding her to our curent forces was the best news we could hope to get.

"Nice timing, if we are together like this we may finally end this siege and battle once and for all, everyone, prepare yourselves, we had much to swallow until now, its time to serve up a new round and make them drown in it." Father explained and we all let our battlecries atone…., or so we wanted to at least….

But before anyone could let our determination being shown something strange happened, something which was an omen of impending disaster.

"Guys…, Is it just me or doesn´t it seems far darker than before, all of a sudden…, not to mention it has become so silent?" Yin asked unsure and I had to acknowledge that she was right.

"What in the world is that?" I heard Alpharia asking as she looked upwards after checking her surroundings

I followed her glance only to gasp in pure shock.

"Unbelievable." I heard Father exclaiming breathlessly, as he took a step backwards, almost stumbling.

"Indeed." I mumbled at what I witnessed.

Right before our eyes the Full Moon, which had shone brightly in this stormy night, had vanished.

Of course wasn´t it gone, no, it was hidden, its light trapped behind a giant veil of pitch black cloth, spanned between 3 of the Eight Warships, high enough to cast a huge shadow upon the island.

There was only one reason of why the Lycanians would do such an outrageous thing.

"They going to release more ghouls, these Bastards gave up on trying to conquer the island, instead they want to massacre anyone of us with weapons which we cannot block." Father stated and gave my thoughts a clear image.

"Do we have a Plan B?" Alpharia asked.

"Plan B…, we need Plan C, D and E, all at once." Yang stated, his mouth agape as he looked at this outrageous situation.

"Can your Bullets not reach them?" I asked Father but he shook his head.

"Not only does the Nephilim lacks any homing missiles, it is mostly a weapon meant for close combat, or the very least for distance attacks, but these Warships are way up high.

Also can´t I be sure that my bullets will even hit in this storm, I cannot effortlessly lose ammunition when I clearly will need them soon, it would also be worse if they ricochet due to the storm and hit one of us instead." Father replied.

"Then what are we supposed to do, this place will soon be overrun by ghouls if we don´t do something against that quickly." I stated and he nodded.

"The White Whale is momentarily engaged in battle with the other 5 Warships so we cannot really count on their help soon….

If only we could fly…" Dad mumbled and it all seemed quite hopeless.

"I can only float for about 5 meters up high, but any more than that means that I would have to use more concentration on floating than on fighting, I would run out of force faster than I like." Yin explained.

"We also have no more flight gear which we could use, they are at the edge of the Island anyways, we would first have to get there and that is impossible without leaving the town defenseless.

If only our Mechas were still functional, we could at least fight better." Yang stated disheartened.

"But of course, that's the solution…., why didn´t I ever thought about this earlier!" Cetala suddenly exclaimed aloud.

"What is it Ceta?" Alpharia asked in surprise about our little sisters' outburst.

"I might just have found a way, on how to get rid of this thing, but it requires some preparation and I will need to use a huge amount of energy for it, so I can but only use this one time, I have but one try to make it work." Cetala replied with her intellectual expression, I was sure she was scheming something.

"Is it going to work?" Father asked interested.

"I will need the remains of our Mechas and I will need at least 30 minutes of time to prepare anything…, maybe it will end in failure but if I do it right it should work…., and it just might be our only way of winning this battle, before we all die!" She replied and Father nodded.

"Alright, Kids, lead the way, I will keep you safe for sure." He replied and so we made our way, back to the central plaza where we had to leave our Mechas behind.

"What are you planning, Sister?" I asked her while we ran through the darkening night.

"I´ll let the Eagle rise…"

 _ **To be continued….**_

 ** _A new Chapter has been written, and once again I must apologize for being on a little hiatus for a while, I had to get accustomed to my new job and my upcoming changing lifestyle (finally moving out of my hometown, in my first own apartment)._**

 ** _However, I was not all lazy during this time, I was also busily writing on my second book and managed to finish 4 chapters by now, as well as all the recent chapters of the Side stories._**

 ** _Although I said that i´m trying to finish this book for this year am I not sure I truly get to that, but I will do my very best, in that regard I once again want to say I´m sorry and I´m glad to be back._**

 ** _If you haven´t yet lost your faith and interest in my stories, please read and review._**

 ** _Sincerely yours truly, the Storyteller and his Books._**


	14. A Tale of Sword and shield 3, Technology

_**A tale of Sword and Shield**_

 _ **Chapter 3: The Genius of magic and technology**_

 _ **Central plaza of Bordaussie, Cetala´s Pov:**_

30 Minutes and one single try, if I screwed it up, we all might die.

Quite a dangerous rhyme, if you were to ask me.

Of course, I knew about the dangers of my action, either A., the Ghouls which are already here will attack us, or B., the Warships will attack us once they have spotted us, both options meant possible death.

One question I didn´t even needed to ask myself, surely was this…, are there any worse conditions I could work under?

I bet not.

While we originally wanted to all go together, we had to make a change of plan as the first few ghouls began to creep out of their holes, in which they had hid themselves, while father and co held them back, was it decided that Alpharia and I were to go on, to bring my plan to fruition.

If the new horde of Ghouls were to be released, death was certain, at least for the unprotected citizens, but most likely also for us.

Betakin and Alpharia, the duo of Armatura Impervius was strong, but its power was surely not infinite, especially since their power has just recently being woken by my siblings.

Eventually its effect will run out and if we are then surrounded by ghouls, we are dead.

This here is the final solution to prevent our situation from even going into that direction at all and it might be just as outrageous, as the construction the Lycanians have built, but at the very least I will put my whole being into making this plan work.

Ever since Brother Red, Elh and Chocolat were down on the planet's surface and returned with new informations, mother was fascinated with the possible knowledge she might gain if she managed to reach this place as well, unfortunately was she never able to do that until today, as the Flute to summon Sumear, the Lord of the Clouds, has apparently gone missing.

Though Mom has the assumption, that Red and co. actually still possesses the same, more precisely Elh, for safeguarding and making sure that no one would be able to access the Knowledge which was to be found under the surface.

As Mom is the living example to our day and age, that too much knowledge can be dangerous, for herself as well as for others, either quickly or as consequence in the near future.

But even with the flute´s absence, was Mother still craving for that knowledge, so she and other researchers searched far and wide in our Republic.

And they found various ancient bunkers under the surface of the islands, with still existent content, kept in a vacuum for millennia and before these books, reports and other findings were to decay due to being exposed to this changed environment, many scribes were asked to replicate these scriptures to make the knowledge of the old world available for our times.

Through one such reports, which Mother deemed appropriate for us to read, we learned about the animal kingdom of that time, to a time as the Humans were the most intelligent creatures on the planet…, apart from the Juno as it seemed.

We learned about the biology, physiology and the behavior of many animals and so even understood various things about ourselves which we did not yet knew, things which were not on instinct, things we had to learn.

After all, we, as hybrids, are the bridges between Animal and Human, far more than the normal population of our world could ever be.

" _An Eagle…, aeons ago known as the King of the Sky…, well before their Kind became self-aware, thinking and intelligent enough not to function on their mere basic instincts, much like us too._

 _An Eagle, the symbol of power, of victory and of Freedom, a fitting symbol for reclaiming control over our home_." I though as my mind began to plan the steps to victory.

Of course, I was aware that my sudden claims were followed by skepticism on some parts, especially if you are aware of the situation, we are in.

And as I said earlier, executing my plan was bound to various life-threatening dangers, so, to say that it was a safe method was definitely an overstatement.

"How will our Mecha´s help you in the first place, Cetala, I mean you are well aware that they are broken, partially destroyed even…, mine lost its legs, Beta´s lost its head and yours, well whatever remained of it…., you can be glad to have gotten out of it unscathed at all…, how will you use them if they are completely dysfunctional?" Alpharia asked.

"If you cannot use a few broken Mechas, why don´t you just create a whole new one out of their remaining parts, and since we can use magic it will be a lot easier than building it by hand." I replied.

"What about the E.M.P…., it does not really mean much, if the enemy just takes it back down again, right?" She dug even further, her eyes speaking of confusion, skepticism and deepest concern.

"Well about that, to be honest, there is something that was bothering me, after all, we all forgot something fundamental, a certain Detail, which mother would reprimand us harshly for, if she ever were to know that we ignored such an obvious fact, especially since she was the one to give us this gift." I replied but she only looked even more confused.

"It is something about which you silently always complained, something you hated until a moment ago, something which put a burden on all of our lives, the twins included, some of us learned to live with it early, others needed a little time to accept it." I explained, as I stopped at an intersection, looking at her, but she still didn´t really seem to understand, or maybe she just still did not want to hear it.

"Seriously, sister, you still don´t get it…, or do you just wish to close your eyes before it?" I asked but she remained silent.

"What are we, Alpharia?" I asked her, standing right in the middle of this crossroad, while we were on our way towards the Central plaza, if we were to be spotted now, we would be dead in an instant.

"Children, trying to fight a battle which is far too big for us…, the Million Family, people who try their most to do the right thing while keeping their ideals alive….?" She stated, more like a question, thinking and believing as well as partially hoping that it was that, what I wished to hear from her, other than the one detail I actually wanted to hear out of her own mouth.

"Indeed…, but that is not all we are, you know that, so what else are we?" I asked her and I could see the reluctance in her eyes, which began to tear up.

If I ever thought it was just hard for Alpharia to accept the facts of our heritage, then I was wrong, she downright despised the idea of having to accept these facts and that devastated her, it was clearly to see what this knowledge does to her and I hated myself for knowing that I was hardly any capable of easing her pain and fright.

A fright which was maybe unnecessary…, but definitely not unfounded.

"We are…, Paladins, a race of ancient wonderworkers, who could penetrate the veil that hides the true world and shape reality to our will, even if just a little…

And we are…, Hybrids, beings with extraordinary powers beyond compare, sometimes benevolent but also sometimes malevolent…, a danger for others and ourselves..., and sometimes society´s final defense, or public enemies…., I get all that but what are you getting at?" She asked frustrated as she looked aside ashamed, silently crying, her hands curled into tight fists.

I walked up to her and I had to step on my toes to reach her face, I gently shifted her head making her look at me.

I looked deep in her eyes, before hugging her.

"Sis, …, we are all that and that is our greatest asset right now, this is what we are but not what ultimately defines us, we got these powers for a purpose and it is at ourselves to define what this purpose is supposed to be, not at Mom, not at Dad and surely not at anyone else on this island.

We are who we are, no one forges our destiny but us!" I explained to her as I wiped away her tears, my eyes never leaving hers, which still were a bit teary, but at least she nodded in acceptance of my claim.

"And what has that now to do with the Mechas?" She asked with an awkward smile.

"We are Paladins and Hybrids on top of it, the best of both so to say, so why do you think Mom would build us something which can so easily been taken down, especially since an EMP had already killed the communication and electronic on the surface.

We all assumed that since the latest E.M.P had broken the systems of the Mechas, that we won´t be able to use them anymore, but we forgot that the Electronical system was but a help to us, to make it unnecessary for us to move the Mechas on our own and exhaust our forces before a real battle." I explained but she still looked at me unsure.

"The joints and the core of the Mechas are made of crystals and Nano-metal, there are crystal particles molded into the metal, effectively lacquering every nook and cranny of the Mecha, to make it more durable.

Alpharia, we Paladins are able to influence crystals with Nono, aren´t we…, and since we are also Hybrids, we have a certain control over Nano-Metal, you have seen the reports of Brother Red and his Septentrion which Mom showed us…., the way he uses it, while being in Trance-Form….

Just because our Mechas are broken down by missing electricity, or parts, doesn't that mean that the scraps aren´t usable anymore, all we have to do is to create a Mecha out of them, which does not require an electronical system, one that is flexible enough to evade attacks and who can reach incredible altitudes, to tear the Lycanian´s plans to pieces, literally." I explained and finally it dawned to her.

"This…, is, reckless, completely unlikely to ever succeed and then again absolutely brilliant…., why did none of us managed to think of something like this?" She asked herself.

"Because you guys were busy with being concentrated on fighting and surviving, since my forces are not so strong, combat-wise, I was more defended by you, which made it easier to have the time to think properly about such things.

I had something similar in the back of my head the whole time, but just no time and nerve to test things out, but when not now, when will I ever get the opportunity anymore to do so, especially since we are in a dire need of a new solution to our newest problem?" I replied, as I pointed at the three Airships high up in the sky, which had the cloth almost entirely spread, the moonlight was almost completely covered, casting a huge shadow on the islands.

"Sounds fair enough, so, may I help you in any way?" Alpharia asked.

"Well you can help me gather the Mechas together, as well as defend me while I built the new one, as I said before, it will take some time." I explained and she nodded.

"What ever happens, you can count on me, Sis." Alpharia stated with a lot more confidence than before.

"If my little sister says that she believes in me, then I can surely not just sit around doing nothing, I swear on my honor as your big sister, that not even a dust-flake will be able to touch you." She explained once we reached the Central Plaza.

"Much appreciated." I replied as I began to use my magic on the first piece of Betakin´s Mecha which I was able to reach.

30 Minutes will make the difference between survival or death here.

While I was busy assembling all the components I needed, to make my plan come to fruition, little did I know that somewhere else a certain person was toasting to her crew for their apparent success.

 _ **On the Invaders Mothership, The Deathwing, General Lunnare´s Pov :**_

A giant black-cloth to hide the moon, a Moonlight-shade so to say, which pulled the entire island into the darkness of the night, it was as though I just created a night of a new-moon myself.

A success and an Ingenious idea, if I may say so myself.

To anybody down in Lunaris, who ever said that a woman would not be able to carry out military missions of such a scale, I love to prove them wrong and shove them my achievements right down their throats, along to their complaints and taunts.

Yes I was a Woman, but believe me when I say, I was so much more.

Some might call me a successful experiment, some call me a mere Chimera, or a Hybrid…, but what I am is nothing but General Lunnare, and as such the people under my rule are knowing me.

" _To my great success, this might have lasted a little longer than expected but at long last these pests of the million Family and S.I.T.K.A. will be eradicated._

 _Seriously, as if they would have been able to stop me with merely 7 Mechas._

 _They were quite strong though, I give them that, but now playtime´s over, I have to produce some results after all_." I thought as I looked at the hologram in front of me, the distance we still had to cover.

If we are to reach our true Goal, we need to hurry things up.

If only these brats would not stay in the way of our Ambitions, I would have been done here in a jiffy.

After all _**that Place appears and disappears on a whim.**_

Luckily it did appear today, so we were able to pinpoint its location but if I don´t hurry up, it might vanish again, it rarely stays at one position and open for more than 2 days.

If only we would not have gotten these new orders in, we would already have reached it and awaken that Thing.

But no, now I am stuck here until I either destroy this island, or kill all rebels.

And as I know my King he surely would want to keep this island as a base, so what else to do than to overtake it.

"Well as far as I am concerned everything seems to go according to plan, we had some little setbacks earlier, but ever since the E.M.P, their resistance has practically died down.

I give it about 5 hours anymore and then we are back on our way." I mumbled as I looked at my crew as they were working.

The Deathwing, the Warship I had under my command, was accompanied by 8 smaller Warships, though I had to pull five of them back, which were supposed to already secure the entrance to that Place before I would arrive, after I were to be done here. But due to their formidable resistance I had to call them back to assist us, especially after I got reports from an incoming Airship which surely was not one of us.

Once we are almost done here, the 5 shall bring that thing down, while I make my way towards our goal, I shall not lose any more time, _**the Gate will close in nearly 16 hours**_ , and I need at least 6 hours until I arrive there.

So if nothing more come in-between I should surely make it in time.

"General Lunnare!" I heard one of my men from the Cockpit crew shouting alarmed.

"What is it?" I asked in a harsh tone without looking, more interested in that fine wine I was currently drinking.

"There is something strange coming at us." The Voice said.

"Well what are you waiting for, shoot it down!" I commanded

"Well we did try to do so, but it evades every attack, I doubt this is a Missile." The voice stated and I looked up to see the strangest thing I had ever seen on a monitor.

"Is this…., A bird?" I asked unsure at what I was looking here.

"We aren´t quite sure, though it also does not seem to be a machine, at least not a normal one, I doesn't react to any decoy or E.M.P. we are sending to it, as if this thing indeed was a living being, but a living being cannot evade fire from 6 different cannons simultaneously." The Pilot explained.

"Well if you cannot shoot it down, then how about you ask the other ships to do so, someone must catch this thing!" I commanded.

"My General…!" I heard from the other side of the cockpit.

"What!" I shouted annoyed.

"The Cloth…, our Moonlight-Shade…, it is burning..." I heard that new voice saying.

My head spun around faster than ever before, only to see that I was indeed not fucked with.

"How the…., what the heck is going on here!?" I asked enraged, upon what I saw.

"It´s this Thing my General, it seems to fire some Scorch-bombs at the cloth, igniting it…, but not only there, it shoots them at our Airships as well!" The voice reported as suddenly the cockpit shook violently, throwing me almost out of my seat.

"What the hell was that for!?"

"My General, our Engines have been ignited in flames, the cooling systems can´t put the fire out, we are about to crash-land!" The report came.

Can anything still go more worse than this?

"My General, the Airship of the enemy is rapidly coming closer and our Airships, in the attempt to take this thing down, have acciddnetly shot each other and have now engaged in an aerial battle against each other.

"WHAT. THE. FUCK!

AM I SURROUNDED BY IDIOTS OR WHAT?

MAKE THEM STOP IMMIDEATELY, AND GET SOME OF THEM TO OUR ORIGINAL GOAL, IF WE CANNOT SECURE THAT THING FOR OUR King, THEN WE CAN SAY GOODBYE TO OUR LIVES!" I shouted at them, my hands ruffling my white hair in frustration.

"But General we would need them here and…" The voice tried to argue.

"GET TO IT; NOOOOOWWWW!" I screamed, baring my fangs and my Batwings unfolded to their full size, making me taller than anyone in this room, it was sure to make my point clear.

This surely was the worst situation to be in….

If King Lycan would hear of my failure, then there would be no stone to hide under in Lunaris, then I might as well die here…, but even more so, didn´t I wanted to give that wretched _**wingless**_ bitch _**Meave**_ any opportunity to score with my King.

Just because she is a fallen Princess, doesn´t mean she has more right to share his bed with him, than I do.

Even if my ship goes down, I will not loose and fulfill my purpose and then get back home to my King.

I surely will get that thing for my King, this Autonomous weapon, _**this Titano Machinae…, Lucifer**_.

 _ **15 Minutes earlier, Cetala´s Pov:**_

The Eagle was done, even faster than I thought, maybe because most of the materials I needed were surprisingly still intact, or should I say luckily...

"So…, this thing is supposed to be our last resort before an invasion of Ghouls?" Alpharia asked in newfound skepticism, as she looked at the big metallic bird.

"Indeed, once _**Ares**_ is in the air, all I have to do is to shoot the tissue with Torch-bomb and if I am already up there, I try to bring one or two airships down." I explained.

"Ares…, as in the Greek Mythology…, the god of War…, seriously…?

Wait as Second…, you are not planning on sitting in that Mecha, am I right?

You know that if you do, I am like completely useless to be here, from down here I cannot truly pinpoint your location to raise a lasting shield around you, should you be attacked?" She asked me shocked.

"Of course not, do you think I have a death-wish, what kinda moron are you taking me for?

Obviously, I have constructed him in a way, through which I am able to remote-control him, but it will be hard to evade attacks when I am down her, so I needed to build in a system which makes my vision a perfect 360°." I explained to her as I showed her the many eyes this Mecha possessed

It was far from being a real Eagle, but in our current situation, this was by far the best I could bring up and she began to calm down.

"Phew…, I see, well as long as you don´t take any risks, I am all in." She replied.

"You are aware of the fact that merely standing here, already puts us in danger, if the Lycanians would spot us while I am literally up in the air with my Vision and kind off also with my mind, we might die, unless you can defend me until the end, then we might have a chance.

Our first priority is to destroy the moonlight-shade, afterwards we need to do something about reducing their numbers and firepower…, maybe I am able to hack into their systems and make them attacking each other, which would be priority 2.

If I could take down their Mothership for example, the rest might flee, or at the very least act in disorder." I explained and she nodded in understanding.

Father always said, that a disorganized pack of enemies, who has lost its leader, is the easiest to defeat, especially if the disorganization results in infighting for the newly open leading position.

"I will trust you on your method, just be careful, I do not wish to lose you, you hear." Alpharia stated to her as she took me in her arms.

"Of course, Sis…, I ain´t trying to get myself killed, there is still so much to do and to discover in the future, I want to see where I can get to, and stopping here is so not my plan." I replied as I took her embrace with love.

 _ **Alpharia´s Pov:**_

"Anyways we better hurry up, or else we truly will be spotted, I think we first need to find a place to hide, from which I can effectively control Ares, while being out of sight." Cetala explained, as she looked around.

"It has to be something in close vicinity, or else I won´t be able to move Ares from the start, and high, if possible, the higher the better." She stated.

"How about this place." I stated as I pointed towards the old Radio-station of Bordaussie.

Old, since its entire system has been built, once the first Public Radio-shows came to light, which is nearly 50 years ago, Bordaussie was one of the first to have a functioning Radio-stations, mostly due to advertising the town, its Bazar and other facilities, since we were such a remote place to begin with, easy to overlook.

"Yes, this should be sufficient…, if I do it right, I might even use the still intact antenna as amplifier, for the signals I send to Ares, maybe it might become a little easier to remote-control him then." Cetala replied and I nodded, though I was not sure to understand, how she intended to move this strange metal-bird anyways.

Nevertheless, we made our way over to the nearby station.

"So…, and how do you now intent on moving this thing?" I asked.

"By doing that, which you hate the most in this world." She just replied but all I did was looking at her confused, there surely were enough things I hated to do, so it was hard to pinpoint what she meant.

"I will Trance." She simply said at my glance of uncertainty.

All what´s left of me was blankness in my mind.

That surely was what I hated more than anything in my life.

"Is that really necessary, Ceta?" I asked.

"How else am I supposed to get my full H-Forces out…., Alpharia, I think you underestimate our current situation…., we are in war, lives are at stake, there is no time to do anything halfheartedly anymore…., if we do something, we surely have to go all out for it, maybe even beyond that." Ceta explained with a serious look in her eyes.

"Yes…, I guess you are right." I stated avoiding to look into her eyes.

I was once more reminded of how cowardly I must act, in front of my younger siblings…., one fine older sister I am…

"Why do you even hate it in the first place, I mean this is something which belongs to ourselves, doesn´t it…., so why?" Cetala asked upon arriving at the Station, we broke our way through the broken doors and blasted us a way open, with our paladin forces.

"It always feels as though I lose part of myself, as if my mind is being set to sleep, while something completely different takes my body over, comes in charge in my place, changes it to its own benefit…

Every time I wake up, I can barely remember what happened during this time, not the good I have done but even more so, all the damage I´ve done." I explained and she looked at me in understanding.

"I see, well if you look at it that way, it surely must feel that way." She stated, her eyes a little forlorn.

"Ain´t that the same for you?" I asked unsure as to what her look meant.

"You do remember that I am different to you and Betakin, I have far too much H-Serum within me, due to that accident in our childhood, which I did to myself.

To cancel that fact out, our Mother, out of sheer desperation to safe my life as well as my sanity, to not turn out as a second Baion, practically pumped me full with Paladin-serum, won out of father's DNA.

Which had as consequence, that my Trance-Form is incomplete, which however also results in me being grandly aware of what happens during Trance, my mind remains even if some emotions, feelings and characteristics of my own change in a certain way.

It is Me, and yet not Me at all." She explained and I was in awe, I never really knew that it felt this way for her.

Maybe out of consideration for the others we rarely spoke much about what was going on in the training sessions we had with Father, if he taught us personally one by one.

Little it made me afraid, it was as though I did not know my own siblings, neither did they know me.

"Anyways, I think if we use this hole, we should make it up to the ceiling, or at least to the relay-stations, from there should usually be a passage to the roof." Cetala stated as she pointed to a huge hole in the ceiling, which seemed to have been caused by the bombardments yesterday.

"I think I saw one of the satellite-dishes, which has been remained greatly intact." She continued as we climbed up the hill of rubble, right underneath the hole.

"So you saying that you use your H-forces and the Dish as an amplifier, to connect with the receiver of this Bird-Mecha you build, to remote-control it, like a TV with its remote?" I asked and she nodded.

"It is all a matter of Radio-waves, upon investigating Brother Red in his H-form, Mom found out that the claws and float-boots are working with waves send from a corporal transmitter system, which is connected to the main transmitter in his brain, it´s like a separate nerve-system, which only activates when he is in Trance-Form.

She devised the theory that if he would learn to directly control them, he could even manage to repel as well as attract these claws far further from his body than they usually are.

If I, as I am aware of what I do during Trance, directly influence this process, I am certain to get some kind of results and if I use such a huge satellite dish for amplifying my forces, I am sure I could even reach the other Mechas, which still lie at the central plaza, just in case I would need more material for on air repairing and reconstruction, should Ares being hit." Cetala explained but I only managed to get that last part, as my head began to fume from trying to make heads with what technological jargon she was spouting around.

"This is too high for me to understand but I think, as long as you know what your are doing, all I have to do is defending you with all I´ve got, am I right?" I asked her and she nodded.

"Indeed, simple as that." She replied with a smile.

"Well that certainly is something I can do." I stated with a more confident smile, as we climbed as best as we could to the upper floors, sometimes using our ability to float, to get higher.

"I hope Betakin and Father are alright." I stated as I went past a Window as we were already high up.

"They surely will be, same as the twins and the citizens, but they might not be for long if we don´t hurry up, look the fabric is almost done covering the moon, let´s go." Cetala said as she pointed up to the Airships.

"Yes, you´re right!" I stated loudly, to regain confidence in my doing.

The worry for my family was tying me up mentally, I was afraid to lose the one part I still had, I was someone who wanted to have his loved ones near me, never straying from our mutual path.

But now me and Cetala were here, my father and Brother were somewhere in this town trying to survive, and mom…, well she surely was in not less danger than we were, if she even was still…, no, I am sure she was, a member of the Million Family does not eat grass so easily.

"There we are, from here on out we should make it, alright then, Alpharia, please stand back for a second." Cetala stated as we arrived at the roof of the Radio-station.

"Oh, alright, if you say so." I stated as I stepped back, not sure what to expect.

To be honest I never saw the Trance-form of my Siblings, mom and Dad had decided to teach us one by one in private, in that particular lesson, out of safety measures, no one knew how much we change during the Trance-form, and if anything goes wrong, we might even see our own transformed siblings as enemies in that state.

Mother did not wish something similar to happen, which happened between Red, Blanck and Nero, and since Dad was with mom, he could surely defend her, if something did go wrong.

So, it was the first time ever, that I saw my own sister Transforming herself in a Human.

" _I wonder how she might look like?_ " I wondered, as I looked at Cetala who had her eyes closed in concentration, suddenly it was as if a gravitational field was raised, I saw how little stones began to float, the dust of the rubble began to float upwards like during a tornado, though long not as strong, which surely was a blessing, if that were to happen, we surely would be spotted, if we haven´t been by now.

Suddenly it was as if Cetala´s body began to glow, I saw how strange lines appeared on her body, most likely the corporal transmitters she talked about earlier, this separate Neve-system.

Her snow-white fur began to vanish, at least on her hands and her face.

Alone her tail and her ears remained, but turned near black in the process.

Her gold-blonde hair shortened itself, as though it was pulled back into her skull, it also toned itself down in a darker shade of blonde, but still bright nevertheless.

Aside from these few changes to her body, the biggest change was perhaps the fact that she became a lot taller, even taller than myself.

"Is that really you, Cetala?" I asked afraid, as I took some more steps back.

"Indeed I am, I am still myself." She replied with a deeper voice than usual, as if she suddenly had aged as well.

"Wow…" It was all I could say to that, as I said, it was the first time ever, that I saw my sister that way.

"Don´t you think the shining is being seen by them up there?" I asked her as I frantically looked from her up to the fiend Airships.

"I would be astounded if they weren´t, that's why you are here, while I concentrate on sending signals towards Ares, controlling him, you have to make sure that we as well as this building remain unharmed, will you be able to do that?" Cetala asked me.

"I think I can." I stated though I sounded anything but certain.

"Let me rephrase that, will you do that, or shall we return to Father and exchange the partners." She asked and of course being indirectly compared towards Betakin made me angry.

Didn´t I told myself earlier, that I won´t stand behind him anymore, that I, as their older sister had to take the lead, had to be the idol I was supposed to be for them.

"I will do that, I can do that, I won´t stand behind Betakin, no more!" I stated with outmost confidence, or at least the most I was able to muster up in our situation.

"That is what I like to hear, alright then sister, I´m counting on you, let´s begin _**Operation Torn Sheets**_." Cetala explained as she walked towards the Satellite Dish.

"You can trust me, Little sister, I will keep us safe." I replied and she nodded with a thumb up and a confident grin.

 _ **Cetala´s Pov:**_

Operation Torn Sheets had definitely more holes than a sieve, but it was the best I could come up in that short time and with such a situation we all were in.

Since neither our bullets nor bombs could reach that far up, the Enemy surely was at a huge advantage, unless we take them that.

"Well then, time to get this show on the road." I mumbled as I concentrated to focus my Hybrid Forces.

Due to the training with father, I was able to move objects, through magnetic forces, from quite a distance away, all I had to do was to focus and to send my forces like a wave-signal to said object, in this case it was Ares, my Mecha.

The Receiver I had built within its head was strong enough to pick up the faintest signal of my forces, so with this antenna, I was surely able to reach far up high.

In order to do so, I climbed up into the antenna myself, before beginning the operation.

" _Ares, I´m calling you, come here to me_." I muttered, as I formulated the order in my head and send it through my Hybrid-nerve-system, into my hands, through them, into the antenna and from there to the Receiver, bringing Ares to live.

With a screech of its own, it began flexing its mechanical Muscles before spreading its wings made of Plasmantium-plates resembling feathers, which each could individually be moved to direct the airflow during rising and landing.

Its wings had some inbuilt jet turbines, which made it easier for the entire body to be maneuvered in the air, igniting the same after gathering the plasma in the air, through its heart, the Plasma condenser system, which sent energy throughout its entire body over vein like pipes.

The Construction was not as easy as it would have been, if the right components had already been available, I had a lot of pieces to reshape before being able to use them, my Mecha Dimens and Betakin´s Mecha Umbra were completely used for it, mostly due to Umbra´s black colored plating, which helped Ares not to be instantly spotted in this dark night.

In its mouth, instead of a tongue, which wouldn´t be necessary anyways, was an assortment of different sized guns, machine guns, rocket launchers and many more.

In its chest area, I had built in two different Plasma condensers, one for the entire system to run and one to be used for the weapons separately, so he would not run out of energy.

In its head was, next to the receiver for my signals, a camouflage and recoil-tool, to shield it from being detected by the radars and homing missiles, like rockets, effectively creating an area of 50 meters around it in which rockets would be redirected and instead being sent to one of its many decoys which it was able to deploy.

Rounded up was Ares with the AI of Dimens, which I was able to command before, I just gave him a new program, which enables it to move like a Bird of Prey, out of the ancient data which Mom received from Yulungur, or better said from the Futzu tower.

More involuntary than voluntary, as she had ordered Red, in a secret talk to him before they went down, to use a 10 Terra-bit strong storage devise, to gather as much information as possible from the old earth, if there truly was a way to do so, which apparently was.

Though she was certain that this was long not all the information that was to be gathered down there.

It was one of the things which Elh Melizee didn´t really knew, as Red managed to truly gather these informations, without her being aware of it.

Mom was certain that Elh would have stopped Red if she knew about it, as paladins are quite close to nature, rather than machines and technology.

Also due to the things I meant earlier, that too much knowledge can be disastrous, if falsely used.

While I admired the work, which I had put into constructing Ares, the same appeared here right before us.

"Wow, now that is surely a sight." I heard Alpharia stating.

"Indeed it is, anyways, get ready for deploying the shield, I will send him up to them now." I replied and she nodded as she inhaled deeply before exhaling to calm herself down.

She closed her eyes to focus her Paladin forces and began to mumble her incantations.

"Just let a single point open, otherwise the signals might not get through anymore, just the spot were the Low Noise Block Converter (LNB) is positioned, all other things in this building you better surround with the shield." I explained.

"Well, I will do my very best." She stated and although I knew that it sounded weak coming from here, was I sure that this was more than I should expect right now.

Alpharia was frightened, so afraid, the most she wanted to do right now was to grab us and hide somewhere where no one would find us.

Maybe you don´t understand it from her constant bickering with Betakin, but for Alpharia, Family, trust and community meant everything, if those things were in danger, she felt herself weak, unable to progress, unsure what to do.

The current situation was far too much for her, and so it hindered her natural abilities.

And that was the thing she despised most about herself, because it might well mean that we would be put in even more danger, if she were to give up.

As I said before, we are in war, and war is not for the weak of heart, that is something Alpharia has to learn, its just a shame she has to learn it the hard way.

"Well then, onwards we go, I bet these assholes have already spotted us anyways and are readying their cannons to take us down." I stated and so I refocused on Ares which still did as told and waited for instructions, flapping his massive wings to stay airborne.

" _Fly up to these airships, evade every bullet and decoy every homing missile away from you, once you reach the first Airship, redirect your flight towards the fabric they hold, shoot it down with rocket launchers and if it is too strong for that, try to destroy the point where it has been attached to the Airships, make it fall at all cost._

 _That shall be your first Priority, the second priority, is to destroy the enemy-Warships, you can do that by dodging their bullets in a way that they accidently shoot one another or you can try to hack yourself into the systems of the airships._

 _For that, you must rip the Warships´ jackets off at their weakest point, where you can get access to their electronical system, find a way to get towards their Airships main server and override it, that shall be your second priority._

 _By all means make them attacking their own people, this serves as plan B if the Fabric should not come off no matter what you do, either way the Moonlight-Shade will fall_." I muttered as I send the very same conversation towards Ares AI.

With a screech, that indicated that it understood my commands, it made its way towards the first Airship.

My mind connected to its optical sensors, so that I see what it sees, in case of me having to correct or direct its actions manually.

"I´m getting closer to the Airships, geez, these things sure are massive…" I mumbled before I saw something rapidly coming closer.

"Woah…., attention Alpha, missile incoming, prepare for impact!" I stated aloud as Ares evaded said projectile.

"Alright, thanks for the Info." Alpharia stated.

I could feel the impact of the rocket, as the entire roof trembled and the antenna in which I stood shook strongly.

I had to keep my balance by grabbing one of the poles holding the LNB in place.

"I try to expand the shield a little while keeping the small area around the LNB open but know that this is our greatest weakness, if they were to directly fire on that spot, I will have to completely close the shield, which might cut off the communication between you and your Mecha, but at least it will save you." Alpharia explained.

"Yes, I guess it would be bad if I were to die, still, having Ares being destroyed before destroying their Moonlight-Shade will only add to our overwhelming number of disadvantages against them, by all means we need to rip this thing in pieces before that happens." I stated.

"I know….., but you are my only Sister, a Mecha can always be rebuild, but you only exist once…., if I were to choose between our mission´s success and your life, I will definitely save your life." Alpharia stated with a loud and clear voice.

"I understand…, _which means I have to hurry up before that happens_." I muttered as I accelerated Ares by igniting his Jet-turbines even more.

While the same flew through hailstorms of ammunition turned against it, our eyes were fixed on the goal, the Moonlight-Shade.

A giant piece of durable fabric as far I could see.

The Airships flew in constant speed, surely as to not accidently tear the fabric asunder, which might help us later on to bombard them, though I am sure that once the fabric would rip, they would no longer bother with maintaining their speed and go all out instead.

"I will now begin bombardment, keep the shield up, I bet they will attack with all ammunition that can reach us." I stated.

I was certain they would no bother to fire with machine-guns at us, instead they surely will attack with a lot of missiles which will destroy the entire places around us, I knew this made the task of maintaining a shield around this building not easier at all.

But if it were to be damaged enough, it might cave in, if that were the case, neither I nor Alpharia would be able to keep our current tasks up.

As fast as my commands reached Ares, he began to fire its own missiles, gathered together from the still intact ammunition of our 3 Mechas.

It weren't much individually, as we had been fighting for days already and spent so much ammunition just to hold of ghouls and the enemies Mechas and drones, but gathered together we came at nearly 60 rockets, at least 20 of them were the combustion types, filled with highly explosive liquids, they were called Scorch Bombs or Napalm-rain.

A thick liquid was sprayed, through the explosion´s shockwave, over a wide area and ignited through the explosion, it was hard to be quenched with water to begin with and up here in the air it was nearly impossible.

It was a miracle for me, how they were still all intact even after our Mechas had been bombarded earlier and ripped asunder.

It was a lucky strike and I thanked all the gods I knew for it…

Of course, the fabric soon burned brightly, while I only needed 5 of these bombs to set it all ablaze, firing one in every corner at their attachments and one straight into the middle.

In my opinion, to get it as black as it could get, these morons painted it with oil, under other things, which would explained why it burned so well, or maybe they used cheap but thick cloth, thinking that up here we wouldn´t be able to reach them anyways, even with the island´s Anti-Air-raid systems, which in hindsight had been attacked first by their vanguard and meanwhile lied in ruin anyways.

While some of the Warships desperately tried to take Ares down, as he fired his missiles at them, after the first priority was fulfilled, the biggest of the Warships, most likely the commanding Mothership, pointed it´s cannons at us instead and began to decimate the buildings around us.

As I was not glowing brightly anymore, it was hard for them to determinate which building we currently were on, so razing the entire block was surely a good way of hitting, if we were normal citizens that is.

As their cloth burned brightly, it had the entire opposite effect of what they planned, the Ghouls they had meanwhile set free were eradicated by the blinding light of the fire and the resurfacing Moon, I could hear their screams from here.

"Guess this was a good success, but I think it will be better to get out of here for now." I stated to Alpharia.

"Roger that, but are you planning on taking your Mecha with you?" She asked concerned.

"If I would like to show them exactly where we are, I surely would do so, perhaps for luring them into a countercharge…, but since we haven´t anything like that prepared, to show them our position if they haven´t yet pinpointed us, would be quite disastrous.

Also will this building not hold out much more bombardments, soon the ground beneath us will give in under its weight and the constant, destabilization through the bomb-impacts and then we are toast, if the building would collapse.

For now I think, that I can let Ares run loose on the Warships, it surely has done a good Duty so far, executing our first priority in this match, so now it can execute priority two, taking down the Airships as far as possible for it or hack them so they take each other out, for that it can do so automatically, I don´t need to input any new orders, at least not for now.

Also, if not being shot off and in full motion, its power reserve should hold out for the next 5 hours at most." I stated and she was buff.

"So long?" She asked and I nodded.

"Yes, while I was building Ares, I filled the energy-cells, over the still external Plasma condenser, while gathering all the plasma in the atmosphere around us, after I was done with the outer shell, I put the P.C.-system and the filled energy-cells inside of it, like you would connect and put in a battery, into a toy, just in over-dimensional size." I explained and she nodded.

"I think I get what you want to say.

Anyways, what are we doing now, shall we return to father?" Alpharia asked.

"Well, I´m honestly not so sure as to what to do, I mean we could but would it really change much if we did, the Ghouls have meanwhile being taken out, Ares tries its best to destroy the Warships and Father, Betakin and the others are surely trying to get to the I.D.A Facility to restock on ammunition.

Considering that Ares manages to distract the Airships long enough, the White Whale might even soon arrive here without many complications." I explained.

"I see, shall we then try to find some more survivors, which we haven´t yet found?" She asked.

"I think this might be for the best, the way I see it, some of them might soon come crashing down, if the interior is still intact, the Lycanians might come out to fight as infantry-forces instead, if they would find any survivors, they surely would be mowed down without mercy by them." I stated and she nodded.

"Most likely."

"Father, can you hear me?" I asked, as I initiated the communication device in our E.H.C.A.s.

" _Yes I can hear you loud and clear, very good work you two, Cetala good job on doing the things you intended to do and Alpharia…, good job on defending Cetala during that._

 _I wasn´t able to see well from here, what exactly happened at your location, but I saw how the Warships bombarded the city after their Cloth has been burned down, but since I am talking to you they at least have not managed to kill you so far._

 _Thanks to your doing, the Ghouls down here have been eradicated or at least fled the lights of the fire and the resurfacing Moonlight._

 _Our operators have been able to land as well, after you distracted them, and according to their report the White Whale will soon arrive, though they are still half an hour away from the edge of the island_." Father stated as his voice spoke out of our shared radio-frequency.

"Those sure are good news." Alpharia stated.

" _Indeed, and as it seems some of the Warships are already retreating, after one of them is going down burning_." Father´s voice replied as we looked up in the direction of the said Airships, only to see that indeed one of them was falling from the sky, its engine burning brightly, while others seemed to have fled the scene instead of trying to help them.

As far as I could see it was the Mothership that currently went down.

"Shall we make sure to arrest them, once they have come down?" I asked father.

" _Yeah, if they were to roam around now freely, should they survive, we would have much hassle with finding them later on, once the battles would be over._

 _Also, should we see to somehow put out the fires, if they crash-land on top of the bazar, large portions of the residential area will be set ablaze as well, if uncared for_." Father explained and I nodded.

He was right, as we know are the fires of the Scorch-bombs not so easy to be extinguished, once they were lit, that´s the disadvantage of using them in midair, you never know what more you will set ablaze, if you use them carelessly.

The Cloth that fell down surely must have set many houses ablaze as well, the more things are burning, the longer it lasts to later rebuild things, and if the most unlikely but not totally impossible event occurs, that there are still some survivors hidden in their houses, they surely will need all the help they can get, to not burn alive or being buried under tons of rubble, suffocating, especially now that we actually can give some help, without having to fear to be shot down alongside them.

"Alright, we go to their Mothership, can you guys care about the fires caused through the burning cloth?" I asked.

" _We will do so, though I will send you Betakin and the Twins as help, meet them at the central Plaza, but by all means be careful, if some of the Lycanians have survived the crash, they will be sure to attack you on sight, don´t hesitate to shoot, if your life or that of one of your partners is in danger_." Father explained.

"Yes we will be careful, you guys be as well." I replied.

" _Sure enough, daughter, see you guys later, stay safe, over and out_." He stated.

"We will, over and out, Father." I replied, as we set ourselves in motion to return back to the central Plaza.

"I´m still wondering what this attack was all about anyways, I mean if their men so easily leave them, they cannot be here to conquer this place, am I right?" Alpharia wondered.

"Well if we find a Lycanian, willing to talk and incapable of killing us, we might ask him, if he then answers truthfully is another question." I stated, not sure that we would really get the answer to that question.

"Then again, it might also have been us, which they sought." I stated.

"Huh…, what do you mean with that?" She asked confused.

"Well, considering that some of those New moon bastards had been under the population of this island, and according to what Father said, that some of them seem to have been in the Kurvaz as well, causing our back-up to run late, it is not so farfetched to say, that there might have been some of them in S.I.T.K.A. as well.

If that happens to be the case, they surely will know about us and our powers, which in hindsight is a grave threat to their plans, whatever they look like.

So it is only logical that they will attack us, to take us out, before we would be able to hinder them in their plans, just as we do right now." I explained and she paled.

"What if they are with Prof. Aurelia, Orphelia and Connor, right now?!" She stated aloud.

"That might be a possibility, but I´m sure they would try to pull something now, they might be outnumbered for the moment, especially when they have already met with Father.

They might wait for the right opportunity, but it surely would be best to keep our eyes open." I explained.

"We need to contact them." Alpharia stated as she was about to call father or Betakin.

"Don´t do that…, not now Alpharia, you know that the communication, once established, can be heard in the Airship as well, right?

If you now warn Dad and the others from possible moles in our Organization, it is certain that the situation might escalate, if there are indeed some." I explained.

"Then what shall we do, if we don´t warn them they might be stabbed in their backs, like they tried to do it with us." She stated in desperation.

"I highly doubt that Father would be so careless, I bet that he already holds up his guard from the moment on, as we reported what happened to us, Betakin was with him after all and if they had gotten news from moles in the Kurvaz Organization, it´s only natural to assume that the same might have happened to us as well, so I am sure that Dad is constantly on alert." I replied.

"I see…, yeah I can see Father doing that." Alpharia stated as she calmed down, while we continued our way.

"For now, we should regroup with Betakin and the others and once that is done, we need to take some measures in damage-control, you know putting out the fire, checking the rubble for survivors, arresting the enemy as far as possible and so on…." I explained and she nodded.

"Well then, let´s go, to where our brother and friends are, which we surely can trust." I stated as we moved on, to where the fires raged.

Ares was still flying in the sky, evading attacks and attacking the remaining 3 Warships, 4 of them have fled…., or have they?

What if they have just been redirected, to get to another location to absolve another mission, most likely their original plan, their second priority, much like I gave two priorities to Ares.

However, if that were the case…., where are they flying to... in our surroundings are only a few Islands they could fly to, Basset or Sealyham to the west…, and to the east we had only 2 other Islands as far as I know...

Samoyede and Akita…., unless…., _**Armenia**_ …., is that place truly real?

If it is…, what was to find there if that was their original Goal…?

" _Questions over Questions which create more Questions…, I would like some Answers for a change_." I mumbled as I walked forth, Alpharia following close behind me, to a possibly dangerous place, but perhaps a place to find these answers.

 _ **To be continued…**_

 _ **A/N: Another Chapter of this side story is done, all what is left are, three more Chapters, before the next and last Side-Story, Valhalla Rising is being written, then we continue with the next chapter in the main story, most likely 2 chapters, before the 3 last Side-stories will begin, afterwards we go main straight to the end of Book 1.**_

 _ **I hope that some of you still enjoy these stories and I surely would like some more reviews for me to see if people even read these stories at all, as I said something might come well in handy to know beforehand, before the great Climax.**_

 _ **By the way, 2 chapters of the next Side-story have already been written so it won´t last so long until it is done.**_

 _ **Anyways I hope you have fun and stay healthy so far, and as I said, it would be nice to hear from you.**_

 _ **Sincerely, yours truly, the Storyteller and his books.**_


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